No charges in wilderness survival-school death

Criminal charges will not be filed in the case of a man who paid more than $3,000 to participate in an outdoor wilderness survival school and died in the harsh deserts of Garfield County.

Garfield County Attorney Barry Huntington's office said Thursday it has declined to pursue negligent homicide charges against the Boulder Outdoor Survival School or its staff in the death of 29-year-old Dave Buschow.

Huntington "says that with the evidence available to him, there is insufficient proof that the school acted with criminal negligence," Garfield County Sheriff's spokeswoman Becki Bronson said in a statement Thursday. "According to the evidence, Buschow was evaluated when he complained of lack of water or disorientation, and because Buschow's complaints and behavior were not ignored by the staff, their actions did not constitute criminal negligence."

In July 2006, deputies said the River Vale, N.J., man complained of being tired and cramping when he sat down in Cottonwood Wash, a canyon about five miles northeast of Boulder. Buschow passed out, with no pulse or signs of breathing.

"During the first few days of the course, participants are given little food and water to simulate a real-life survival experience," Bronson said. "At the end of the course's second day, Buschow collapsed and died."

Huntington said that in his opinion, participants of the Boulder Outdoor Survival School know the risks going in and sign a liability waiver, making it difficult to prove any criminal negligence on the part of the staff.

The Utah Attorney General's Office also reviewed the case and said there was insufficient evidence to prove criminal negligence, Bronson said.

The survival school has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Salt Lake City, asking a judge to enforce the liability release that Buschow signed. His estate has filed an insurance claim with the school.

"As the assumption of risk and release of liability forms are valid, they bar any claims made by Mr. Buschow's estate resulting from his death," school attorney Andrew McDaniel wrote in the lawsuit.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com