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Some of those who submitted their resignations contend the reorganization will result in fewer services to citizens, possibly even compromising safety.

"I couldn't disagree more. I believe it will enhance safety," said Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Brent Atkinson.

The changes essentially amount to a reorganization of how search and rescue is run, he said. The changes do not affect the actual rescues or day-to-day operations.

"We're still operational. We still have those skill sets on the team. If the pager goes off this afternoon, we're certainly able to respond and conduct rescues," Atkinson said.

Prior to this week's resignations, there were 49 volunteer members of the search and rescue Team. One of the problems the sheriff's office was seeing was when a call-out was made for an urban search and rescue. Atkin- son said his office noticed there were significantly more volunteers who showed up for incidents in the mountains such as hurt climbers or hikers, compared to those who responded to a lost child in a neighborhood.

To improve the quality of all searches, Sheriff Jim Winder wanted to increase the number of search and rescue members, Atkinson said. Urban searches will now be tied to the department's Child Abduction Response Team.

"I view this as a non-intrusive reorganization of the unit," Winder said. "I'm at a loss as to why the people that left thought this was problematic."

Another change was to transfer leadership of the team back under the umbrella of the sheriff's office. In the past, volunteers held leadership positions on the search and rescue team, Atkinson said.

The sheriff's office has also been in the process of increasing the training of its own deputies who regularly patrol the county's canyons. By increasing their skill level, Atkinson said the sheriff's office believes it will result in people getting help faster.

"They're receiving specific training that makes them qualified as first responder," Atkinson said. "We hope it will dramatically increase response time."

Some of that new training is being done with the Unified Fire Authority, he said. Several deputies just completed avalanche training and will soon move on to swift water rescues as the snow starts to melt.

But some of those who submitted their resignations disagree. They said new training does not substitute for years of experience. All of the people contacted by the Deseret Morning News who submitted resignation letters declined to talk, saying they didn't want to cause problems for the members of the team who did not resign.

One resignation letter, however, suggested safety will be compromised if the decision making on rescue operations is made by those with less experience in backcountry rescues.

"I believe the new model will result in an organization that provides a lesser service to the citizens of Salt Lake County at a higher cost," one letter stated.

Another letter stated the proposed changes by Winder were based on misinformation. Some noted they believed the changes would result in increased costs to Salt Lake County residents while others noted that the unit was recognized by many as being one of the best in the country — and there was no need to fix what wasn't broken.

One letter said to characterize the resignations as people who were resistant to change or did not like losing power would be wrong.

Two of the people who resigned were former commanders of the unit and another had over four decades of experience with the unit.

Atkinson noted, however, that the most technical mountain rescues would not change. Winder is creating a special 16-member STAR team, or Sheriff Technical Advance Rescue, he said. Members of that group will be the most highly trained volunteers who will essentially continue doing what they're doing today, Atkinson said.

The goal is to increase the search and rescue team up to 60 members. Already, the sheriff's office is considering 17 new applications. Winder said the goal was to add more skilled people to the team rather than relying on the same four or five technical rescue personnel all the time.

"What if they're out of town?" Winder asked. "I still don't get what the resistance was. We still have got 40 people that are very committed and ready to respond."