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There’s been a record number of search and rescues in Zion National Park this year, officials say

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2021 has been the busiest year on record for search and rescue crews in Zion National Park. Typically, there are around 110 major search and rescue missions, but so far this year, there have been more than 160. Additionally, in the past four months alone, there have been five deaths.

 

Rescues are surging more substantially in the east side of the park. The park's chief ranger Daniel Fagergren says he thinks people getting lost on the east side of the park is going to continue.

 

Fagergren says rescues are likely increasing because technology is making people feel safer than they should, so they venture off trails to find themselves lost. Fagergren says it’s always best to hike with another person to avoid situations like these.

Tyler Hewitt is the web/social media assistant at UPR. He writes stories every day, updates the website and manages the station's Twitter and Facebook pages. Tyler is a senior at Utah State University and is studying public relations, marketing, and psychology. He loves to write, listen to music, play video games, play tennis and hang out with his fiancé and cat, Juno. He is a great plant dad and recently started collecting vinyl records!