KEESEVILLE -- Tom Dragoon will never forget the heart-wrenching 10-day search to find his son after he drowned in the Ausable River almost two years ago.

A day before his son, Mark Dragoon, celebrated his 29th birthday in June 2006, he died after his raft overturned in the rushing water.

Now, the idea of having the river fully opened to boaters has the elder Dragoon fearing for local rescue personnel, who may once again have to dive into tumultuous waters to save lives or recover a body.

DANGEROUS WATER

If the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission opens the five-mile stretch beyond New York State Electric and Gas's Rainbow Falls Dam, Dragoon said, area firefighters will be "literally exposing themselves to grave danger."

"My main concern on the whole thing is what they're going to do to protect the firefighters who have to scale the Ausable Chasm to save people and pull people from the river."

It's not just the potential safety hazards that have him opposing the action; it's also the lack of financial support for the volunteer rescue crews.

"For the federal government to come in and open it up and not provide any funding for (emergency responders) who have to go in and pull bodies out of there isn't right," Dragoon said. "Who's going to cover the cost of the recovery efforts?"

Dragoon said he understands where access supporters "are coming from, in the sense that they should have access to any water that's under the control of the federal government," but he feels there are no controls or accountability for people who venture into the closed waters.

"Those are Class 3 and Class 4 rapids, and the rescuers will have to scale the cliffs and go into those rapids. The inherent dangers of Adirondack rivers have proven themselves time and time again, and (opening the river) is not in the interest of the North Country."

SAFETY RISK

Keeseville Fire Chief Lenny Martin said the department began its swift-water rescue program almost four years ago, in case the river was ever fully opened to kayakers.

The program has since evolved, and now about 20 volunteers are trained at various levels of swift-water rescue.

Though many paddlers will be trained, Martin said, others will not be prepared for the fast-moving currents, and he thinks it's "going to get a lot of people in trouble. They're going to kayak out of their experience, and that's what we're worried about.

"It's going to be dangerous if we have to go in for a rescue or recovery. Anytime you put a volunteer in the water, you always have the chance of something happening," Martin said. "And it's going to be a financial burden on the department."