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Rangers help family of hikers, kids lost in wilderness

State Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers based in the Adirondack Park helped a family of hikers who took a wrong turn and a group of kids who got lost in the woods over the weekend.

Town of Indian Lake

On April 4 at 6:20 p.m., Hamilton County 911 transferred a call to the DEC’s Ray Brook dispatch. The caller reported that a family of hikers from Johnstown had taken the wrong trail while visiting Rock Lake in the Blue Mountain Wild Forest area.

Dispatch called the family, and with coordinates obtained through 911, placed them near the end of the Rock River Trail about three miles from the trailhead.

Forest ranger Lt. Brian Dubay directed the hikers to head south on the trail and pass straight through the four-way intersection to reach their vehicle. Forest ranger Gary Miller was notified, responded to the trailhead, and started walking in to meet with the family.

At 8:27 p.m., dispatch contacted the hikers again and requested new coordinates that showed they had taken a left at the intersection and were heading down a snowmobile trail that eventually parallels Route 28.

With this information, Miller returned to his vehicle and drove down Route 28 to the group’s last known location and was able to make voice contact with the family. The ranger then entered the woods, found the family, and at 9:15 p.m. everyone was out and heading back home.

Town of Warrensburg

On April 5 at 3:50 p.m., Warren County 911 transferred a call to DEC’s Ray Brook dispatch. The caller reported that a group of three girls had gotten lost on Hackensack Mountain.

A 17-year-old, 10-year-old, and 4-year-old from Warrensburg took a walk and lost the trail. Coordinates provided by 911 placed the group in the woods near a private road.

Forest ranger Art Perryman responded to their location and brought the girls out to Pennock Drive where they were met by parents.

Statewide

DEC personnel from across agency divisions and regions statewide are supporting the state’s response to COVID-19.

Employees from more than 20 New York state agencies are working on response efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19. Several DEC forest rangers are part of the New York State Incident Management Team, or IMT, an interagency team comprised of personnel from various state, county, and local agencies who represent a variety of disciplines. The IMT assists incident command personnel and emergency managers in ensuring a prompt, efficient, and organized response to complex incidents.

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