A video showing two men disturbing rock formations in a national park shocked online viewers — and led to serious consequences.
As The Independent reported, it happened in Lake Mead National Recreation Area last April. The video shows two men pushing pieces of rock off the tops of ancient sandstone formations.
"Why would you even do something like this, like why on Earth would you do this?" John Haynes, a public information officer for the park, told Fox 5 Vegas.
"It takes millions of years for these rock formations to form, and then you get a few idiots out there that are destroying all that work of nature. … It's pretty appalling. It's kind of disgusting," Haynes said.
It also happened to be illegal. A jury found the two men guilty of "injury and depredation of government property." Each now faces up to a year in jail, a $100,000 fine, or both.
The sentence, which will be handed down July 8, might sound harsh, but many feel it's justified. "Why??? Why why? Why?" one person wrote on Instagram. Another added: "Losers destroying nature for nothing. Hope they throw the book at them."
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Beyond attractions for nature lovers, national parks are home to sensitive ecosystems, endangered species, and ancient geological features. Not only are the tourists in this video destroying fragile structures, but they're also putting themselves at risk of injury or worse.
Social media has shined a light on instances of tourists' behaving irresponsibly in protected areas — from carving natural features to chasing wildlife for photo ops. When visitors behave like this, they make it more difficult for others to enjoy parks. With enough bad behavior, restrictions could be put in place, ruining the experience for everyone.
Officials encourage people to report anyone who breaks the rules, gets too close to natural features or wildlife, or acts disrespectfully in national parks. Commenters on the video agreed that park rules need to be strictly enforced to discourage this behavior and prevent copycats.
"The shame is these people are never ticketed/fined/jailed/banned as they should be," one person said. Another wrote: "I hope they were arrested and charged with felonies and banned from the national parks for life."
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