It's not about making money in this case because Equusearch is a non-profit and asks for no money from families or local law enforcement agencies. Speaking as a member of a search & rescue group, we're all volunteers and pay for all of our own equipment. Pretty much the only thing we get reimbursed for is fuel and that comes out of a state search & rescue fund. That fuel money is only given out on actual missions. Training expenses are all on our own dime. The Feds don't pay for anything.
That said, a UAV or a human piloted helicopter isn't a magic talisman that allows you to find the subject. If the subject is under a few feet of brush or tree cover, you won't see them from the air. Aerial vehicles are another tool in the toolbox. There are a few benefits to a UAV. One is it's significantly cheaper to operate. A jet ranger helicopter can cost well over $600 an hour to operate. A Robinson is cheaper but still expensive. A UAV can be programmed to take hi-res photos in a grid pattern for later review. Multiple people can review the imagery because different people will notice different things.
Now, as to federal regulation, this kind of B.S. makes our job exceedingly difficult if not impossible. Here there are several designated "wilderness" areas. Nobody is allowed to take a motorized vehicle into them even for matters of public safety. In fact, helicopters aren't allowed to land. They have to hover and touch a skid to off load search personnel. That's a very very dangerous thing to do. Then there's the BLM. These morons pull the same crap on so-called state trust land. Don't get me started on their incompetence when it comes to managing wildfires. Then there's the National Forest Service. Recently, they've unilaterally decided to close off a huge percentage of the roads in the forest. But they don't physically close them off. You're supposed to know which roads are open or closed and the only official map has no topographic features on it...at all. If you're on one, they can give you a ticket. Volunteer search & rescue folks are not exempt.
Which brings me to the FAA. Legally, they have no leg to stand on when it comes to UAVs. They keep referring to a 2007 policy hoping nobody will know the real deal. It's not an official regulation, only a policy recommendation. IMHO, what the FAA is doing as well as other federal agencies is trying to rule through intimidation and policies that would make Kafka envious. They know they're full of it but they also know that the average citizen doesn't have the resources to fight them in court.