About WSAR

The  Wilderness  Search  and  Rescue  team,  commonly  known  as  WSAR,  was  established  in  1987  and  is  a  ground-search  team  based  out  of  Fairbanks,  Alaska  composed  of  un-paid  volunteers  that  have  training,  experience,  and  equipment  necessary  for  search  &  rescue  operations  in  Interior  Alaska.      WSAR  is  a  registered  non-profit  service  organization  made  of  members  from  the  Fairbanks  community.    WSAR  serves  as  an  un-paid  auxiliary  to  the  Alaska  State  Troopers  to  augment  their  departmental  search  and  rescue  efforts. 

The  only  state  larger  than  our primary  search  area  is  Texas.  This  are  is  over  twice  the  size  of  40  of  the  remaining  states.  We  are  directly  accountable  to  Alaska  State  Trooper  Detachment  D  which  has  posts  in  Barrow,  Cantwell, Delta  Junction,  Fairbanks,  Galena,  Healy,  Nenana,  Northway,  and  Tok  and  serves dozens  of  additional   outlying  communities  and  villages.  

In  the  State  of  Alaska  there  are  approximately  500  search  and rescue  incidents  each  year  that  fall  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Alaska  State  Troopers.  This  results  in approximately  30,000  man  hours,  of  which  over  two  thirds  are  volunteer  hours. 

 The  back-bone  of  search  and  rescue  services  in  Alaska  is  provided  by  trained  volunteers  without  whom  effective  search  and  rescue  cannot  be  conducted.    In  addition  to  the  Alaska  State  Troopers,  Wilderness  Search  and  Rescue  also  provides  service  through  resource  sharing  agree-ments  with  the  US  military,  municipal  and  borough  agencies,  National  Park  Service,  and  other  federal  agencies.