When National Park officials tell you to stay on the designated boardwalk, they pretty much mean it.
Yellowstone National Park is a beautiful place for tourists to view the area, but it’s also a dangerous place to be. Just recently, a man walked too far off of the designated boardwalk and fell into a hot water spring where he met his demise.
Of course, if you’re caught breaking the rules by park officials, and you live to tell the tale, you might just have a hefty fine to pay.
The National Park Service revealed earlier this month that a man was fined $1,000 and charged a $30 court processing fee after walking off of the designated boardwalk and attempting to collect hot spring water samples.
Taking samples from a national park or forest is a big no-no. When it comes to national parks and forests, the nature you find there is the property of the national park or forest. You can’t even pick up a pinecone if you wanted to.
The man had also reportedly walked on the terrace formations to get to his sample-taking and he was reportedly seen by another park visitor breaking through the very fragile crust. Not only had he been illegally collecting samples, but he also destroyed part of the park’s property.
After park rangers had fined and photographed the man in the act, he quickly admitted to what he had done and said that he had not read the safety information that was handed out to him during his visit.
This safety information warns that the Yellowstone National Park grounds are strictly off-limits for walking off of the designated boardwalk and goes over various other types of safety information.
The man who was collecting illegal samples now gets a mandatory court appearance and, must pay his dues.
It serves as an important reminder for why you must pay attention to signs and read all the information you’re given when you visit magnificent places like Yellowstone National Park.
Many recent events could have been avoided if people just read the signs and pamphlets, including a family who picked up a wild bison who later needed to be euthanized for being abandoned by its herd, and a woman being charged by a wild elk for getting too close.
Source: National Park Service