Thank You for Making the 2025 Rocky Mountain SAR UAS Conference a Success!
On behalf of Douglas County Search and Rescue and Colorado Parks and Wildlife, we want to extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who attended, presented, and supported the 2025 Rocky Mountain Search and Rescue Unmanned Aerial Systems (RMSARUAS) Conference.
This year’s event brought together over 65 participants from 26 agencies and organizations representing a diverse mix of search and rescue teams, law enforcement agencies, emergency managers, and UAS technology partners from across Colorado and beyond. Held in Douglas County, the conference was an opportunity to highlight the real-world impact of UAS technology on public safety missions — and to build meaningful partnerships across disciplines.
From mission debriefs and program overviews to cutting-edge tech demos and hands-on learning, this year’s conference was shaped by your feedback and your field experience. Our shared goal was to refine best practices, explore new tools and techniques, and strengthen interagency collaboration in high-stakes environments. Based on the energy, insights, and engagement we witnessed, we’re proud to say: mission accomplished.
Throughout the day, attendees heard powerful case studies from recent SAR deployments involving drones, including river rescues, lost hikers, vehicle recoveries, and nighttime thermal searches. Agencies discussed their evolving UAS programs, the lessons they’ve learned through experience, and how they’re adapting to new terrain, weather, and communication challenges. Topics like battery management, drop kit accuracy, terrain-based flight planning, and live streaming for incident command were discussed openly and constructively.
We were particularly inspired by the creativity and commitment shown in developing local training pipelines, adopting safety-first mindsets, and building cross-agency mentorship networks. Whether it was highlighting the importance of flight time over flashier gear, sharing solutions to connectivity issues with mobile units, or diving deep into tools like CoTAK and SARTopo, the knowledge exchange was authentic and immediately applicable.
We also want to thank our vendors and technical partners who gave us a glimpse of what’s coming next — from advanced payload integrations and mapping overlays to vehicle-based command platforms and real-time situational awareness tools. Your contributions made the afternoon technology showcase a highlight of the day.
If you were part of this year’s conference, thank you. If you missed it, we hope to see you next time. We’re already working on ideas for future gatherings — and we’d love to hear your feedback, ideas, and mission stories in the meantime.
To all our friends and partners in the growing Rocky Mountain SAR UAS community: thank you for your service, your innovation, and your commitment to making search and rescue missions safer, faster, and more effective.
