EISPIRATEN

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Teen seeks to negotiate NH hiking fine
August 4, 7:05 AM

Scott Mason, rescued from Mt. Washington, is getting
the help of Concord, N.H., lawyer Jed Callen to nego-
tiate his $25,000 fine with state officials.

Scott Mason and his family have engaged a lawyer to help them negotiate with the state over the $25,000 fine it imposed on the Massachusetts teen after he was rescued from Mt. Washington in April.

The family hired Jed Callen of Baldwin and Callen in Concord, N.H. Callen said he is talking with both the attorney general's office and the state Fish and Game Department, but added he can't comment until he's seen the documents related to Mason's case and the circumstances of the search and rescue effort.

Fish and Game, after consulting with the attorney general's office, fined Mason, an 18-year-old high school student, after a three-day ordeal on Mt. Washington because of what it has said is negligence on the teen's part.

Mason is an Eagle Scout who had climbed the mountain in the past, but ran into trouble in April after spraining his ankle.

Fish and Game Maj. Tim Acerno said at the time the decision to fine Mason came from what was deemed as the teen's negligence for continuing a hike with the injury and veering off a marked trial. Mason left the trail in favor of a short cut he knew to the bottom but it was cut off by deep snow and a stream swollen by melting snow.

But there are questions not only about the size of the fine, but just how it was determined.

Officials have said that Mason's rescue was particularly expensive because the helicopters the state typically used were unavailable, and a helicopter from Maine had to be brought in.

Examiner's requests for specific documents about the rescue was met with an advisory to file a formal information request.

An Examiner poll about the incident has a small turnout but shows readers are opposed to the idea of a fine: 59 percent said the fine was not justified, 11 percent said it was, and 26 percent said the $25,000 wasn't justified but that there should be some kind of penalty such as community service.
over the $25,000 fine it imposed on the Massachusetts teen after he was rescued from Mt. Washington in April.

The family hired Jed Callen of Baldwin and Callen in Concord, N.H. Callen said he is talking with both the attorney general's office and the state Fish and Game Department, but added he can't comment until he's seen the documents related to Mason's case and the circumstances of the search and rescue effort.

Fish and Game, after consulting with the attorney general's office, fined Mason, an 18-year-old high school student, after a three-day ordeal on Mt. Washington because

Remind me not to go hiking in New Hampshire

Or have a car wreck, house fire, medical problem etc.....

Oh yeah! Remind me to not set foot in the place....

He's a kid, he made a mistake for cry's sake

I thought it was interesting the fire he got going with the hand sanitizer...
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin ... ost=181172

edenooch wrote:Fish and Game, after consulting with the attorney general's office, fined Mason, an 18-year-old high school student, after a three-day ordeal on Mt. Washington because

Because what? Dood, where's the rest of the article?

So was he just trying to hike out after he sprained his ankle? And took a known (although not a maintained trail) route? Where's the negligence in that?

Or was he hiking futher in?

Hikin_Jim wrote:Dood, where's the rest of the article?

From the Manchester Democrat Examiner

Teen seeks to negotiate NH hiking fine
August 4, 7:05 AM · Paul Briand

Scott Mason, rescued from Mt. Washington, is getting the help of Concord, N.H., lawyer Jed Callen to negotiate his $25,000 fine with state officials.

Scott Mason and his family have engaged a lawyer to help them negotiate with the state over the $25,000 fine it imposed on the Massachusetts teen after he was rescued from Mt. Washington in April.

The family hired Jed Callen of Baldwin and Callen in Concord, N.H. Callen said he is talking with both the attorney general's office and the state Fish and Game Department, but added he can't comment until he's seen the documents related to Mason's case and the circumstances of the search and rescue effort.

Fish and Game, after consulting with the attorney general's office, fined Mason, an 18-year-old high school student, after a three-day ordeal on Mt. Washington because of what it has said is negligence on the teen's part.

Mason is an Eagle Scout who had climbed the mountain in the past, but ran into trouble in April after spraining his ankle.

Fish and Game Maj. Tim Acerno said at the time the decision to fine Mason came from what was deemed as the teen's negligence for continuing a hike with the injury and veering off a marked trial. Mason left the trail in favor of a short cut he knew to the bottom but it was cut off by deep snow and a stream swollen by melting snow.

But there are questions not only about the size of the fine, but just how it was determined.

Officials have said that Mason's rescue was particularly expensive because the helicopters the state typically used were unavailable, and a helicopter from Maine had to be brought in.

Examiner's requests for specific documents about the rescue was met with an advisory to file a formal information request.

An Examiner poll about the incident has a small turnout but shows readers are opposed to the idea of a fine: 59 percent said the fine was not justified, 11 percent said it was, and 26 percent said the $25,000 wasn't justified but that there should be some kind of penalty such as community service.

Meanwhile, in addition to the Facebook page that was started to support Mason, a fund has been established:

Scott Mason Contribution Fund
Mutual Bank
336 Plymouth Street
Halifax, MA 02338

The creator of the Facebook page -- Don Malbrough, an assistant scoutmaster in Maryland -- posted a comment recently that he spoke to Mason's mother who said:

" ... Scott has said that the stress of having a 25K bill at his age and having to relive his ordeal over and over again is harder on him than being stranded in the mountains. The pressure on him has been tremendous.”