State environmental officials are in the process of updating their procedures for tracking personnel out in the backcountry.
That was prompted by the death of New York State Assistant Forest Ranger Brendan Jackson earlier this summer.
Jackson died while working and camping in a remote area of the Adirondacks. His body was found over a week after his last communication with the DEC.
Commissioner Amanda Lefton told public radio’s The Capitol Pressroom that the system for checking on rangers, stewards and other personnel when out in the field overnight has been strengthened since then.
"And actually what we're doing now is we're going through a process of looking at every single policy that we have for actually all of our ECOs and Rangers, our different policies for dispatch and many other things," said Lefton.
She said the reevaluation is part of a "broader effort of continuing to invest and support those team members," but acknowledged that it was "motivated by that initial review we did of our policies following [the death of] AFR Jackson."
Jackson's death sparked widespread calls for DEC reforms. The changes come after more than 6,000 people signed a petition demanding changes to the state’s system of monitoring their personnel.