The survivors of an outing that left two Explorer
Scout leaders dead in Utah’s Kolob Canyon will get more than $2
million from an out-of-court settlement with public agencies. David
Fleischer and LeRoy Kim Ellis drowned in July 1993 while descending
a narrow slot canyon near Zion National Park. A surviving Scout
leader, four of the five Explorer Scouts and the families of the
dead men later sued the National Park Service and the Washington
County Water Conservancy District for $24.5 million. Their lawsuit
claimed the Scouts should have been warned about high-water
conditions (HCN, 8/22/94).
According to Assistant
U.S. Attorney Stephen Sorenson, the Park Service, which paid
survivors $1.49 million, could have gone to court with a strong
defense since the Scouts failed to call off the trip when they
found the creek running high. Outdoor leader and writer Charles
Cook told the Salt Lake Tribune that the out-of-court settlement
created a “terrible precedent,” and he predicted copycat lawsuits
the next time a hike ends in tragedy.
But Denny
Davies, chief naturalist at Zion National Park, said that without a
trial, “there is no legal precedent.” Water Conservancy District
officials, who paid survivors $750,000, were quick to add that the
settlement was not an admission of liability.
The
case could lead to stricter control of backcountry use on public
lands. Washington County water manager Ronald Thompson said that
the district may have to close some areas to the public. “If public
(lands) are to be made available to the public, individuals who use
these lands … must take responsibility for themselves and their
own safety.”
*Greg
Hanscom
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Feds set “terrible precedent’ with Kolob Canyon settlement.
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