It depends on the state and payment is more likely required if local officials deem you negligent or if youʼre a part of a common pattern in that location (e.g. Floridians visiting southern Utah every winter and getting themselves stuck in cliffs).

States with laws allowing search and rescuers to charge for rescuing them, according to this 2021-10-06 New York Times article titled “You Got Lost and Had to Be Rescued. Should You Pay?”:

• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Maine
• New Hampshire
• Oregon
• South Dakota
• Vermont

God help you if your rescuers call you an air ambulance, though.