Social media reveals Yellowstone tourists regularly break rules

NATURAL RESOURCES — In the past few days, the world has seen goof-ball tourists in Yellowstone National Park ignoring common sense and breaking laws by petting bison , putting a calf bison in their SUV and walking as a group across a fragile and dangerous thermal feature, Grand Prismatic Spring.

I’m pretty sure this sort of dangerous and selfish activity has been going on forever, but people recording these antics and putting them online are hanging out the ignorance of “the public” for all to see.

Currently social media appears to be encouraging people to do stupid things to get a video they can post an garner a lot of attention.

On the other hand, maybe social media will ultimately be the savior, as dolts learn that somebody ELSE is probably watching and recording them do stupid, selfish and illegal things.  Maybe the ridicule, fines and jail time won’t be worth it.

Here’s a video posted by an anonymous witness who documented the thermal feature trespassing and helped bring about the outcome detailed in today’s Associated Press report below:

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – A Canadian-based group of men who post pictures and videos of their travels on social media are in hot water with Yellowstone National Park officials after walking out to a hot spring where people are prohibited.

Rangers filed a criminal complaint Monday against three members of the group known as High on Life SundayFundayz for stepping onto a geothermal feature.

The group has posted an apology on its website and social networks for leaving the boardwalk path that visitors are required to stay on to protect both tourists and sensitive hot springs.

They’ve offered to donate up to $5,000 to the park. The group removed photos and video showing some of them touching the hot water at the Grand Prismatic Spring over the weekend.

The criminal complaint was filed against Charles Ryker Gamble, Alexey Andriyovych Lyakh and Justis Cooper Price-Brown.

Witnesses and video posted on the Internet show four men going about 25 yards off the boardwalk, according to the complaint.

Yellowstone spokeswoman Charissa Reid could not immediately explain why only three were listed in the complaint.

The apology posted on the group’s web page and other social media accounts listed “Ryker, Alexey, Justis and Parker” as signing off on the apology.

Messages to the group seeking comment about the matter were not immediately answered Tuesday.

The posted apology said the group made a “wrong decision” when they sought to take pictures and video of the Grand Prismatic Spring, the largest in Yellowstone at 370 feet in diameter and more than 120 feet deep.

“We got over zealous in our enthusiasm for this wonderful place,” it said in part. “When standing at the face of such natural wonder, we were drawn to it. In an attempt to get the perfect shot, we acted in a way that doesn’t reflect our respect for the environment we were trying to capture.”

Witnesses reported the incident to rangers and provided pictures of the large recreational vehicle the group traveled in. The vehicle, with British Columbia license plates, is registered to Charles Gamble, according to the complaint.

Yellowstone distributes literature to visitors and posts signs around geothermal features warning people not to stray off boardwalks and paths.

Just days before, Yellowstone rangers cited tourists who loaded a bison calf into their vehicle because they were concerned for its welfare. The calf had to be euthanized because the mother and herd would not take it back and it would have died on its own.