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Yellowstone National Park Immune From Wyoming Law Banning Certain Photos Of Water Resources

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Published Date

May 21, 2015
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No laws were broken by the taking of this photograph/Kurt Repanshek

You can take all the photos you want on your Yellowstone National Park vacation without worrying about being arrested for ignoring a new Wyoming law pertaining to whistleblowers. It doesn't apply to the park, which is federal, not state, land, according to park officials.

Much has been made of the law, which "makes it a crime to collect data on 'open land' outside of towns and subdivisions if the data collector lacks written or verbal permission to both access the land and collect data," as a story on WyoFile pointed out this week.

Fanning the flames have been representatives of Western Watersheds Project, which has run afoul of Wyoming politicians for its scrutiny of water quality in the state.

Most disturbing to Yellowstone officials was the way ABC News portrayed the matter.

"A Yellowstone tourist who goes for a hike with the intention of photographing the natural resources in Yellowstone is in violation of this law because they are entering into open land for the purpose of collecting what falls under the definition of resource data," Susan Kraham, a senior attorney for the Environmental Law Clinic at Columbia University, told ABC News.

Unfortunately, that's not true, said Traci Weaver, the park's spokeswoman.

"It doesn'™t pertain at all to Yellowstone, because the park is federal land," she said Wednesday.

So enjoy your visit to Yellowstone, and be sure to come home with stellar photos of Old Faithful, Mud Volcano, Grand Prismatic Spring, and all the other wondrous geothermal features of the park.

 

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Comments

Submitted by SmokiesBackpacker on May 21, 2015 - 7:55am.

Unfortunately, that's not true, said Traci Weaver, the park's spokeswoman

                                              ?


Submitted by Lee Dalton on May 21, 2015 - 8:29am.

So much for the First Amendment.

Meanwhile, here in Utah, our legislature passed a similar law a few years ago that prohibits taking photos of any livestock or animal farming practices.  This was a result of a whistleblower trying to document cruel conditions in mink farms and a couple of industrial pig farms.  The pig farm was also a source of some incredible water pollution issues.

So the solution to abuses of animals or natural resources is not to solve the problem but to cover them up by prosecuting anyone who seeks to document them.

Disgusting.


Submitted by Jim Burnett on May 21, 2015 - 10:18am.

I'd interpret the "unfortunately" in the comment by the park spokesperson as meaning it's unfortunate a major news network didn't do their homework by checking on a source, and therefore put out some very misleading information. 

 


Submitted by beachdumb on May 22, 2015 - 6:09am.

major news network didn't do their homework by checking on a source, and therefore put out some very misleading information.

This seems to have been a problem for a long time, look how they how the major news networks handled the current POTUS. They mislead the country into voting for the most incompetent administration in history...


Submitted by rmackie on May 22, 2015 - 11:39am.

I am inclined to agree Jim, it is quite possible the NPS spokesperson was misquoted, I certainly hope so. 


Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on May 22, 2015 - 12:05pm.

Jim's interpretation is the correct one...


Submitted by rmackie on May 22, 2015 - 12:55pm.

Thank you Kurt.


Submitted by Sonarbat on July 13, 2015 - 10:15pm.

BE WARNED! I just got a $340 fine for taking family pictures at Yellowstone. This law is bullshit and a racket. I'm from Washington State and I have to show up in person to contest it!? I am going to raise holy hell over this before I pay a damn cent!


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