After four people posted videos and photos of themselves going off the provided pathways and walking on Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, the Wyoming U.S. Attorney General’s Office has officially charged three of the four people involved.
Yellowstone National Park Public Affairs Representative Charissa Reid says authorities are still in the progress of identifying the fourth person, and more charges may be filed.
The matter is still an active law enforcement investigation.
Reid said the men are charged for disorderly conduct and resource damage but was unsure as to the possible punishments involved.
The four men, who have been identified by numerous sources as members of the group known as High on Life SundayFundayz, posted a video on YouTube and photos of themselves going off the pathways and walking on the geothermal spring. The video and photos have since been removed from their page, but not before numerous people documented the content.
The group has issued an apology on their Facebook page.
Reid said the actions taken by the men over the weekend are not only illegal, but could have caused them to be injured.
“Thermal areas are very unstable. We don’t necessarily know what’s underground,” said Reid.
Even though the hot spring looks stable, some areas could be very thin with hot water just below the surface, said Reid.
In addition to personal danger, the men damaged the park’s resources.
“There are microbial mats that grow on top of these hot geyserite deposits, and those mats are impacted by people walking on them,” said Reid. “It can take a long period of time before footprints in the microbial mats disappear.”
Reid said Yellowstone is still trying to quantify the damage caused by this incident.