A tourist photographed trespassing on a geyser at the Yellowstone National Park (YNP) received a seven-day prison sentence earlier in June, prosecutors announced June 13.
Viktor Pyshniuk, 21 of Lynwood, would face a two-year unsupervised release after his prison stint, a ban from the YNP for two years, a $1,500 fine, a $30 mandatory court processing fee and a $20 special assessment fee, according to the press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Wyoming.
An on-duty park employee had photographed Pyshniuk walking off the boardwalk and up an incline within 15-20 feet of Steamboat Geyser’s steam vent in the Norris Geyser Basin, and alerted YNP law enforcement, prosecutors told the court.
The YNP shared what appeared to be a photo of the incident on social media. It showed the silhouette of a lone figure on a hillside not far off from plumes of steam which some other tourists—who remained on the boardwalk—were also observing. (RELATED: Man Faces Federal Charges After Allegedly Wandering Off-Trail At National Park While Drunk)
Pyshniuk told the officer who responded to the alert that he “left the boardwalk to take photos”, according to the press release. The officer then pointed out the signs warning of the illegality of leaving the boardwalk. The officer also explained that the area was heated and unpredictable, the ground potentially weak and subject to sudden eruptions of steam, hot water, and boiling mud, among other related perils, prosecutors added.
Magistrate Judge Stephanie A. Hambrick, while imposing the sentence for the thermal trespass, explained that the sentence was to serve as a deterrent both to Pyshniuk and other tourists. The three-foot fence around the boardwalk was a clear warning against trespassing, the judge reportedly added.
“And if every visitor to YNP disobeyed the rules, the park would be destroyed, and no-one would be able to enjoy it,” the press release paraphrased Hambrick as having said.
“Trespassing in closed, thermal areas of Yellowstone National Park is dangerous and harms the natural resource,” said Acting United States Attorney Eric Heimann, the press release reported. “In cases like this one where we have strong evidence showing a person has willfully disregarded signs and entered a closed, thermal area, federal prosecutors will seek significant penalties, including jail time.”
The Steamboat Geyser is the world’s tallest and most dangerous active geyser, with intervals between eruptions ranging anywhere from three to 89 days, according to the press release.
Erratic and unpredictable, it has been out of dormancy since 2018, the National Park Service (NPS) stated. It “pulsates like a massive steam engine in a rare, but remarkably memorable eruption, reaching heights of 300 to 400 feet.”
Yellowstone has over 500 geysers—more than anywhere else worldwide—and over 9,500 other hydrothermal features, according to the NPS.
