U.S. urged to probe wilds deaths

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Interior and Agriculture departments need to launch investigations into so-called wilderness therapy programs that take place on federal land, House members said Thursday.

After an emotional hearing Wednesday in the House Education and Labor Committee, committee chairman George Miller, D-Calif., and House Natural Resources chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., called on the inspectors general of the two federal departments to look into the programs.

"We believe that it is incumbent upon those tasked with managing our nation's lands to implement policies and safeguards to ensure that our public lands are not used in the abuse of troubled children," the lawmakers wrote.

The Government Accountability Office released a report Wednesday describing 10 cases where teenagers have died in wilderness therapy or other residential treatment programs, including five deaths in Utah. The GAO found that many of these programs take place on Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service or other federal lands, but there is no federal oversight of what goes on there. Of the 10 cases that were highlighted in the report, six teens died on federal land.

"While not all residential programs are the same, and many undoubtedly provide positive experiences for children that improve their lives, the evidence we heard (Wednesday) nevertheless demonstrates the urgent need for action," the lawmakers wrote.

At a hearing Wednesday, parents who lost their children in these programs, including Bob Bacon, whose son Aaron Bacon died in Utah in 1994, told Miller's committee how they believed that they were completely misled by program operators who said they had qualified staff members who were experts, when in reality they had little training. The teenagers died from dehydration, injuries suffered from hiking and other health problems associated with their participation in the programs.

Miller and Rahall want the inspectors general to look at "the extent to which residential treatment programs operate on federal land overseen by agencies within your departments, including the permitting, licensing and leasing processes governing such use and the extent to which these programs have complied with these processes."

They also want to know how the agencies have investigated and tried to prevent "child abuse and neglect on federal land."

Right now, Utah has 12 active "outdoor youth treatment" licenses, which are reviewed every year, said Ken Stettler, director of the Utah Office of Licensing with the Department of Human Services. He said the licensees must meet a series of special criteria, including how much water is available on hikes, and staff education requirements.

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