The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office reaches an agreement with Portland Mountain Rescue over coordination of rescues on Mt. Hood.
Both groups released this joint statement:
“After a productive discussion this morning, we’re excited to announce a mutual agreement in principle on general terms for a closer relationship between Portland Mountain Rescue and the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office. We all believe this arrangement will improve safety on the mountain. This partnership will strengthen our existing integration of personnel and resources, and will make planning and mission response more efficient.”
Portland Mountain Rescue's statement:
“We really appreciate Sheriff Roberts’ focused effort to improve search and rescue in Clackamas County. These efforts have already manifested in improvements to communications and mission planning that are making a difference in the field. The concepts we have negotiated will move Portland Mountain Rescue toward becoming a unit of Clackamas County Search and Rescue. At the same time, it will preserve attributes of Portland Mountain Rescue we believe are critical to successful mountain rescue. We are looking forward to working out the details of this arrangement with the Sheriff and building a stronger joint team.”
Statement from Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts:
“Mt. Hood is one of the most-climbed mountains in the world, and it takes a highly specialized team like Portland Mountain Rescue to accomplish these often dangerous rescue missions safely. Today was a significant milestone, as we partnered together to develop constructive solutions to improve search and rescue on Mt. Hood. I look forward to continuing this discussion and working with Portland Mountain Rescue as we carry on our shared mission: saving lives.”