PRIEST LAKE — Priest Lake Search & Rescue Inc. has unanimously voted to transfer operational control of the outfit to the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office and dissolve its fundraising apparatus.

Several factors influenced the move, according to its former commander, Mike Nielsen.

Nielsen had long planned to step aside from public service when he reached the age of 70, but was unable to find anyone willing to take the reins of the organization. Nielsen said the commander’s post requires a 20- to 40-hour work week, which was too tall of an order for team leaders who are already juggling full-time jobs, families and other responsibilities.

“They’re dedicated and they’re competent, but they just don’t have the time to give to it,” said Nielsen.

Although PLSAR has thrived with a nucleus of reliable volunteers, other volunteers have been slowly drifting away due to burnout or weariness with staging the group’s numerous fundraising exercises such as the Huckleberry Festival.

Nielsen said the board recognized that it was time to dissolve the organization and turn the bulk of its assets over to the sheriff’s office, which already has a close working relation with PLSAR.

The group formed after an unpleasant encounter with two Priest Lake men who offered to help an out-of-town search-and-rescue unit find two people who became lost at Upper Priest Lake during the Thanksgiving holiday in 2000.

“I wasn’t there but what I was told was they were threatened with arrest if they crossed a certain point. It would be interfering with a police investigation of some sort,” said Nielsen.

Nielsen began assembling volunteers in 2001 and the group was formally incorporated the following year.

Since then, PLSAR has gained a reputation for methodical, orderly search-and-rescue operations. It conducted more than 90 missions and assisted more than 100 people.

The group recruited and trained more than 250 volunteers. In addition to basic search-and-rescue training, volunteers were also trained in first aid, CPR, orienteering, winter survival, technical rescues, rope rescues, swift-water rescues and wilderness first aid.

It also assembled a cache of rescue gear and leading-edge communications equipment. The group’s VHF radios are GPS-enabled, which pinpoints a volunteer’s precise location in real time.

“I know exactly where everybody’s at. It’s a really sophisticated system,” said Nielsen.

PLSAR’s network of repeater sites in Bonner, Boundary and Kootenai counties give the group some of the best radio coverage in the area.

PLSAR counts the Priest Lake Chamber of Commerce as one of its prime benefactors. The chamber supplied the group with $89,830 in funding, according to Nielsen.

Most of the group’s funding was sourced by donations and grants at Priest Lake, so most of the equipment is staying in the community.

“That money’s going to stay here in Priest Lake,” said Nielsen.

The bulk of the group’s fiscal assets, meanwhile, will be turned over to Priest Lake Ambulance. Nielsen said Priest Lake Ambulance could receive a sum in the vicinity of $30,000, but it could be more or less depending on where the group stands after closing out its remaining debts and various professional fees associated with the corporate dissolution.

Two paid-for projects involving repeater sites on Little Blacktail and Lakeview mountains will be buttoned up when the snow recedes, Nielsen said.

Undersheriff Ror Lakewold said Priest Lake Search & Rescue has maintained the highest standard of training, response and professionalism.

“They have been an incredible asset to Bonner County,” Lakewold said.

Lakewold and Nielsen both envision a seamless transition. Lakewold said the sheriff’s office is committed to keeping the roster of volunteers, in addition to its high training standards and swift response.

“The equipment infrastructure remains in the same strategic locations, the only real change will be from a team management standpoint. We have been working closely with the board of directors through this transition and they remain committed to assist the sheriff’s office with any questions and issues that we encounter,” said Lakewold.

Lakewold said a new Facebook will soon be developed and the outfit will be rechristened the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office Volunteer Search & Rescue unit.