Keweenaw County Sheriff Upgrades Search and Rescue Communications with Destination Development Grant

The Keweenaw County Sheriff upgrades back-country communications with a destination development grant from Visit Keweenaw. Over the summer the Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Department was awarded a 20,000 dollar grant to visit Keweenaw as a part of its destination development awards focused on expanding safe outdoor recreation in the copper country. The sheriff’s department oversees rescues for one of the state’s most remote and most visited regions. With the grant award, the department was able to purchase several GPS satellite phones, which will be used by deputies and search and rescue members during searches. Keweenaw County Sheriff Curt Pennala says that their biggest concerns on a search deal with effective communication between search teams and cutting down search response times. Both aspects of a search work for and against one another, and the eight new sat phones will help the department develop a more effective response plan to searches.