Two women were fined and jailed for walking on the colorful bacterial mat surrounding Opal Pool in Yellowstone's Midway Geyser Basin/NPS, Diane Renkin file
Two Philadelphia women who ventured off a boardwalk in Yellowstone National Park's Midway Geyser Basin earlier this month and trampled the colorful bacterial mat that rings Opal Pool are each $457 lighter and spending two nights in jail after appearing before the federal magistrate in the park.
The women, Tara L. Davoli, 31, and Sarah A. Piotrowski, 30, also are banned from the park for two years, a period during which they'll be on unsupervised probation, U.S. Attorney Mark A. Klaassen said Thursday.
The mats that ring many of the hot springs and line geyser runoff channels in Yellowstone are formed by a bacterium called Thermocrinis, which is descended from ancient bacteria that metabolized hydrogen and oxygen, notes the park's website. "Its filaments entwine, forming mats. Flowing water carries other microbes, organic matter, and minerals that become caught in the streamers and add to the mat," the site adds.
According to the U.S. Attorney's office, the women were charged with being off trail on the orange bacterial mats surrounding Opal Pool on June 11. "Multiple witnesses observed the two walking on the feature and confronted them in an effort to get them to stop," the office said.
Along with being ordered to spend two nights in jail, Davoli and Piotrowski each were ordered to pay a $350 fine and restitution in the amount of $106.92 for damages to the thermal feature. The amount of restitution was based on a damage assessment conducted by the Yellowstone geologist and a thermal research crew.
“The rules in our National Parks are there for a reason - to protect visitors and the natural beauty we all want to experience and enjoy. Just taking a few steps off the boardwalk in a thermal area may seem harmless, but it can really damage the ecosystem and potentially put visitors in danger,” said Klaassen. “We support the National Park Service and park rangers who work to enforce these rules so we can all continue to enjoy amazing places like Yellowstone and preserve the park for future generations.”
Comments
OMG, the sheer stupidity of these two morons! And their punishment is cheap, compared to the damage they've done.
only 2 nights in jail, less than $500 they got off way too easy
The fine needs to be $5000 per person, jail time and a FELONY!!!! That is the only way these knuckleheads will pay attention. They also need to do 200 hours of community service (pick up trash and clean toilets in National parks!!!!
Should have been banned for life and stiffer fine. It's people like these that ruin our parks for future generations. Very sad!
They should have also gotten community service in the park.....like picking up garbage.
Way Way too cheap! Should have been at least $1000 each plus expenses plus a month in jail!!!
Glad neither was hurt - it wasn't long ago that I read of someone severely burned by doing a similarly dumb thing in Yellowstone. Sorry the fines weren't much steeper for this blatant disregard of park rules and the damage done to one of our national treasures.
They are idiots!! They could have got burned!' The damage maybe be unfixable. They should be banned permanently from Yellowstone