Most "professional" search and rescue teams in Colorado are unpaid. The expenses incurred by the Sheriff's departments are paid from a state-run fund that comes from a variety of recreation fees when rescuing people who pay those fees.

http://www.coloradosarboard.org/csrb-COSARFund.asp

I know of many SAR cases in Colorado where nobody was billed, even people who were not part of this fund. I would say that billing the victim in Colorado is the exception, not the rule.

Leland