Basically it all comes down to a lack of funding for TPWD for so long. the lack of employees made it impossible to mount a SAR if hikers wanting/expecting to be rescued became lost, in trouble, or over due.
I doubt the staff has increased enough to make fielding a rescue team significantly any better now than it was. Lack of funding is a lame excuse to explain why things can't be done...sort of like 'the problem was caused by the computer'. Right. It doesn't require funding to be able to hike cross-country. It doesn't require funding to let a public that doesn't need 'services' use the land. This, of course, is the basis for how non-park public lands are managed and used by the public.
TPWD had enough employees back then to conduct pricey bus tours and escorted trips. It was about control more than staffing. Thus, it would seem there's been a change of attitude about the need for control that is behind the change. That is a good thing.
Hikers may 'need' rescue, but anyone going out there with the mindset of 'wanting/expecting rescue' probably should reconsider leaving home. Sometimes you can't get what you need, much less what you want or expect. A lot of SAR incidents are recoveries rather than saves and that happens even in places with good capability.
Plus, there was no money for any infrastructure improvements at all.
You don't need infrastructure improvements to hike cross-country. To the contrary, it's the lack of that which makes such a hike 'cross-country'.
