“Earlier this month, Assistant Forest Ranger Brendan Jackson passed away while camping,” wrote the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in a press release. But advocates are saying the 42-year-old forest ranger wasn’t just camping; he died while working in the Adirondacks backcountry. And even though he missed 11 check-ins with his employer, no one realized he had died until eight days later.
Videos by Outdoors
Jackson’s friend, Danielle Carr, wrote an open letter to DEC Commissioner calling for reform. She suggests in her letter that what happened to her friend was unacceptable. “The DEC Forest Rangers Week in Review dated July 2 stated Assistant Forest Ranger Brendan Jackson passed away while camping,” Carr wrote. “I would like to add that AFR Jackson passed away in the backcountry at Duck Hole in the middle of his work week for the NYS DEC Ranger Division.”
[RELATED: ‘Hero’ Diver Recovers Men Who Died Jumping From Waterfall]
She continues, saying: “Assistant Forest Ranger Jackson often worked in remote areas with no cell service, but friends became worried about the length of his non-contact.”
Carr claims she became worried and personally began investigating Jackson’s absence. She did so by contacting other rangers, who confirmed that Jackson’s last contact with dispatch was Saturday, June 7. Rangers found Jackson’s body on Sunday, June 15 at Duck Hole over a week after his last communication with dispatch.
11 Missed Check-Ins
“When AFR Jackson Signed Out Interior at dispatch, it meant he was still in the field and dispatch should expect a radio call the next morning when he resumed active duty. AFR Jackson did not call in to service on Sunday morning. He did not call out of service Sunday evening. He did not call in service Monday morning. [And] he did not call out of service Monday evening,” wrote Carr. “Based on his regular work schedule, AFR Jackson was expected (and failed) to call dispatch 11 times before I tried to verify his location and wellbeing. In a high-stakes law enforcement backcountry environment, how does DEC not know a staff member is missing? Or dead? For over a week.”
By the time rangers recovered Jackson’s body, it had begun to decompose, making it difficult to ascertain his cause of death. Although his death likely could not have been prevented, advocates are saying it shouldn’t have taken the DEC as long as it did to notice he was missing in the first place.
A petition claims DEC Dispatch previously used an employee-tracking software that could have prevented this situation, but the document suggests DEC “abandoned it” several years ago. The petition urges: “Our NYSDEC Forest Rangers risk their lives to keep the public visiting the backcountry safe. They deserve the tools and support to keep themselves safe too.”
Here is the petition started in honor of Assistant Forest Ranger Jackson, who died while working in the backcountry: https://www.change.org/p/honor-brendan-jackson-protect-nys-forest-rangers.
Header stock image of Lake Colden in the Adirondack High Peaks of New York by Posnov/Getty Images
