Steamboat Geyser in Norris Geyser Basin is the world's tallest active geyser. It it is also the most dangerous, according to a Yellowstone National Park press release. Photo by Matt Poyner/NPS
by Mountain Journal
A 21-year-old
Washington state man was sentenced to seven days in jail last week for trespassing
on a thermal feature in Yellowstone National Park. Viktor Pyshniuk of Lynwood, Washington, was also banned
from Yellowstone for two years and ordered to pay more than $1,500 in fines and
court fees for the violation, according to a June 13 statement from the park.
On April 19, Pyshniuk told a park law enforcement officer
that he walked off the boardwalk at Steamboat
Geyser in the Norris Geyser Basin to take photographs. A separate park employee
captured photos of the incident which show Pyshniuk within 20 feet of the geyser’s
steam vent.
“Trespassing in closed, thermal
areas of Yellowstone National Park is dangerous and harms the natural
resource,” said Acting United States Attorney Eric Heimann said in the
statement. “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.”
Magistrate Judge Stephanie A.
Hambrick, who handed down the sentence on June 4, was concerned that Pyshniuk
walked off the boardwalk in plain sight of other parkgoers and that the action
might send the wrong message and “they might have thought it was okay to do the
same thing,” according to the press release.
“Steamboat Geyser is a
prominent feature within YNP and the world’s tallest active geyser, but it is
also the most dangerous,” the statement continued. “It has erratic and
unpredictable eruptions that can rise anywhere from six to 300 feet high. In
the last four years, the intervals between eruptions ranged anywhere from three
to 89 days according to the YNP website: https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/steamboat-geyser.htm.
“Judge Hambrick also explained
that the three-foot fencing around the boardwalk is a clear sign that the area
is closed and prohibited from entering.”
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