Homeland, Security

Seems like the two times I'm guaranteed to hear national news from my home region in Southern Oregon are during forest fires, or (lately) people getting stuck in the snow. It's an amazingly sad story this time around — unlike this past March when (if I recall) everyone survived.

I lived nearby until I was in my early 20s (literally, I was born about 15 miles away from where the car was found and lived most of my young life 40 miles away). We never drove this route to the coast — though I always wanted to. We stuck to US 199, dipping down into Northern California before returning to the Oregon Coast. This is because the wilderness is just that: wilderness. It didn't necesarily occur to anyone that a major parcel of land between Seattle and San Francisco would have no cell phone reception, and a one-lane, unpaved road does not a touristworthy thoroughfare make. Just about any local would tell you these things — proof positive to me that sometimes, the most critical tidbit of information can be lacking on the information superhighway.

Of course, with this getting-trapped tragedy happening twice in a single calendar year, there's bound to be a "what can we do to prevent this" reaction. I have to hope it won't go further than a decently-sized warning sign before you leave civilization. How much responsibility for safety and security lies with the government, whether it be a state highway or a Forest Service logging trail?