MISSOULA, Mont. \u2014 A Texas man has been sentenced to jail time after walking off a designated boardwalk in a sensitive thermal area of Yellowstone National Park.<\/p>\n
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming, 50-year-old Eric Bedient of Frisco, Texas, was sentenced to five days of incarceration on March 31 by U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie Hambrick. Bedient previously pleaded guilty to the violation.<\/p>\n
Court documents state Bedient walked directly on fragile and hazardous hydrothermal features in the park\u2019s Mammoth Hot Springs area, including Canary Spring, Mound Terrace, Palette Hot Spring, and Jupiter Terrace. Officials say the sentence reflects the extent of the violation, damage left behind by footprints, and Bedient\u2019s failure to follow park regulations.<\/p>\n
U.S. Attorney Darin Smith emphasized the dangers of Yellowstone\u2019s thermal features.<\/p>\n
Yellowstone\u2019s thermal areas are among the most dangerous natural features in the world,” Smith said in a press release. “Mr. Bedient\u2019s disregard for the law could have cost him his life. Prosecuting crimes like this deters others from similar conduct\u2014and from risking becoming thermal soup. We will continue to hold individuals accountable to protect lives and preserve this unique, irreplaceable landscape when their actions threaten these national treasures for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The case was investigated by Yellowstone National Park law enforcement and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ariel Calmes.<\/p>\n
Park officials are also reminding visitors to follow safety rules when visiting thermal areas:<\/p>\n
Stay on boardwalks and designated trails at all times<\/p>\n
Do not touch hot springs or thermal runoffSwimming or soaking in hot springs is prohibitedPets are not allowed in thermal areas<\/p>\n
Officials note that more than 20 people have died from burns after entering or falling into Yellowstone\u2019s hot springs.<\/p>\n
For more information about visiting Yellowstone safely, travelers are encouraged to contact the park\u2019s public affairs office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MISSOULA, Mont. \u2014 A Texas man has been sentenced to jail time after walking off a designated boardwalk…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-243561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}