I think we are arguing over straw men here. Most ops in North America, like most other emergency services, are not billed. If your dwelling catches on fire, or your car is in an accident, do you acquire a charge? Not usually, unless there are exceptional circumstances. It's the same with SAR in North America. That is why the Baxter State Park story is news.

TH has a good point about the use of terms like 'natural selection" and "Darwin" candidates. They contribute almost nothingto understanding the situation at hand. Usually the only information any of us will have is from media outlets, whose information is typically quite superficial, an inherent characteristic of breaking news. When more information is available, conclusions often change.

It would be interesting to figure out the tax burden we bear as a result of SAR operations. I am confident that you will need to be really good with small fractions to achieve this.