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[Bulbo Urethral Baggins]

see edit: its a tourist site and the object it to bring in tourists while protecting the place.

Yeah. Maybe they can identify the more loose or dangerous rocks and only keep those off limits.
I need to go to Utah some day.

 

[Partial Gamification]

Yeah. Maybe they can identify the more loose or dangerous rocks and only keep those off limits.
I need to go to Utah some day.

I wouldn't be surprised if park rangers had a new periodic check off the site.

You can see it from google earth:

Few dozen images uploaded within the park too.

 

[Ovid]

Its a state park.
from the park's brochure:

Not sure what law will be applied, the utah.gov site and search engine kind of sucks. I feel like I'd fall down the rabbit hole on a Nexus search trying to find similar cases. I'm curious if it has any impications for mining companies, and if that would be reason to lessen the punishment.

Vandalism, right?

 

[Partial Gamification]

Vandalism

Yes but couldn't find felony vandalism (maybe over 5,000$ in damages would classify as such), there might be the authority within parks / A.G. office to call it such - I don't know.

They haven't released a statement regarding charges, have they?

 

[Dude Abides]

That's not the point. It wouldn't take much for some of these rocks to fall over from climbing on them. Why not do more to protect them?

If the park doesn't set up a high-powered electric fence around each rock, clearly they're fair game.

 

[toohectic]

Kind of off topic, but as an American, I was so surprised the first time I visited the various museums in Paris, like the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay. Everything on display was exposed, relatively unprotected and all within arm's reach. Priceless art, statues, heirlooms, and artifacts. Yet everyone, including all tourists, seemed to respect and obey the do not touch signs. The exposed white marble on all the statues had no discoloration and no visible wear. I always had the impression that if these same items were on display in the US, the parts within reach would be black due to people not fighting their urges to touch them. Putting them in glass cases would almost be a given in order to preserve them. Maybe my impressions are wrong, but I'd be curious if anyone felt the same way. Are there any museums in the US that have exposed artifacts to the same degree as the Paris ones above? How do they hold up in terms of the do not touch policy?

 

[mattiewheels]

Sometimes I wonder what some alternate reality where Europeans never came to North America would have turned out like. The attitude between Americans and the Native tribes concerning nature and wildlife is so utterly opposite, I wonder how unchanged the US would be after hundreds of years without colonization/expansion.

 

[massoluk]

Kind of off topic, but as an American, I was so surprised the first time I visited the various museums in Paris, like the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay. Everything on display was exposed, relatively unprotected and all within arm's reach. Priceless art, statues, heirlooms, and artifacts. Yet everyone, including all tourists, seemed to respect and obey the do not touch signs. The exposed white marble on all the statues had no discoloration and no visible wear. I always had the impression that if these same items were on display in the US, the parts within reach would be black due to people not fighting their urges to touch them. Putting them in glass cases would almost be a given in order to preserve them. Maybe my impressions are wrong, but I'd be curious if anyone felt the same way. Are there any museums in the US that have exposed artifacts to the same degree as the Paris ones above? How do they hold up in terms of the do not touch policy?

Well, I'm surprised Starry Night at Moma has no protection whatsover (that I can see anyway) except that guard standing feet away. What if some asshole rushed in and smear the painting?

 

[Mercury Fred]

I'd be in favor of life in prison with no chance of parole. Fuck these useless morons.

 

[Partial Gamification]

Sometimes I wonder what some alternate reality where Europeans never came to North America would have turned out like. The attitude between Americans and the Native tribes concerning nature and wildlife is so utterly opposite, I wonder how unchanged the US would be after hundreds of years without colonization/expansion.

Its a romantic notion to think all native peoples were custodians of the natural World. Just look at the Aztecs, ritual war keeping the sun moving. The earliest peoples to cross over Beringia and migrated southward, hunted off the large mammals such as the giant sloth. This being said, there was a practicality of living without waste and many tribes did revere nature and hold a deep respect for their environment.

In Australia, the aboriginal peoples are thought to have brought fire and used it as a means to clear brush and forests to clear the wild of dangers and reshape the landscape in order for it to be more habitable.

It would be different without Columbus but how long before another motivated a fur trade and trans-oceanic trade routes to the empires in Europe or Asia?

At the same time, this is the reason why there are protected natural spaces. Wild and scenic designations that act as doorways to the nature, relatively untouched by mankind.

 

[toohectic]

Well, I'm surprised Starry Night at Moma has no protection whatsover (that I can see anyway) except that guard standing feet away. What if some asshole rushed in and smear the painting?

All the paintings along the wall had a meager low rope barrier in front no more than 2 feet of the wall. Almost limited in function to ensure people didn't accidentally lean up against a painting. However, I did get the impression that there was an optical beam that ran just behind the rope barrier that would trigger a silent alarm and notify the guards if any one crossed the barrier. Either that, or constant video camera surveillance. There were people next to me pointing across the barrier (not touching the painting though) at some details in the painting's texture, and a guard would shortly pop up out of nowhere and shake his finger at them. However this really just guards against people that have no bad intentions. If someone really wanted to damage the artwork on purpose, the damage would be done, and the museums damage recovery team would be fast at work. Luckily that is extremely rare.

Of course the Mona Lisa is sealed away behind glass, but only because the elements in the air are damaging to the painting. If it was a sturdy painting like the others, I would assume it would have the same meager protection. Maybe they would increase the rope barrier to 3 feet.

 

[peaceiscloser]

There sure is a lot of generalization and ad hominem attacks in this thread.

 

[Downhome]

Allow me to say, *ahem*, heh...

http://news.yahoo.com/man-toppled-ancient-rock-suing-disability-183757302--abc-news-topstories.html

A Boy Scout leader who came under fire for pushing over an ancient boulder in a national park filed a suit last month claiming he was suffering permanent "disability" and "impairment" from an auto accident four years ago.

Glenn Taylor initially faced scrutiny after a video of him pushing over a Jurassic era rock formation in the Goblin Valley State Park in Utah went viral.

Taylor, a Boy Scout leader, told ABC News that he should have handled the incident differently but thought the boulder was dangerous and thought it would be safer to push it over.

"The Boy Scouts didn't teach me to do this," Taylor told ABC News. "Would I do it again? Yes, with a ranger standing there. That's what we should have done."

However Taylor is now facing additional scrutiny after it was revealed that he filed a suit claiming he has he endured "great pain and suffering, disability, impairment, loss of life" stemming from a 2009 car accident, according to ABC News affiliate KTVX-TV in Salt Lake City, Utah.

According to KTVX, Taylor said in the documents he has incurred an estimated $5,000 in medical related expenses.

Alan Macdonald, who is being sued by Taylor because it was his daughter who hit Taylor's car, told KTVX that he was "highly offended" by Taylor's actions.

"Somebody with a bad back who is disabled who can't enjoy life to me doesn't step up and push a rock right off its base," Macdonald said.

Calls to a number listed in Taylor's name and to his attorney were not immediately returned.

The Emery County Attorney's Office confirmed that it has been contacted by state park representatives and will review the case once an investigation is complete.

 

[Jeff-DSA]

Video of the girl he's suing here and her story of what happened.

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=27324681&ni...re-pushing-rock&fm=home_page&s_cid=featured-1

She's cute, therefore this troll should be driven into the woods with torches.

 

[dreamcastmaster]

Amazingly I saw this reported on TV in Hong Kong at the weekend. These idiots have gone global!

 

[Clydefrog]

Video of the girl he's suing here and her story of what happened.

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=27324681&ni...re-pushing-rock&fm=home_page&s_cid=featured-1

She's cute, therefore this troll should be driven into the woods with torches.

the journalist's name is Devon Dolan.

we've come full circle

 

[HovaHovito]

I'd be in favor of life in prison with no chance of parole. Fuck these useless morons.

Lmao jesus christ
You must be so personable

 

[Devolution]

Kind of off topic, but as an American, I was so surprised the first time I visited the various museums in Paris, like the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay. Everything on display was exposed, relatively unprotected and all within arm's reach. Priceless art, statues, heirlooms, and artifacts. Yet everyone, including all tourists, seemed to respect and obey the do not touch signs. The exposed white marble on all the statues had no discoloration and no visible wear. I always had the impression that if these same items were on display in the US, the parts within reach would be black due to people not fighting their urges to touch them. Putting them in glass cases would almost be a given in order to preserve them. Maybe my impressions are wrong, but I'd be curious if anyone felt the same way. Are there any museums in the US that have exposed artifacts to the same degree as the Paris ones above? How do they hold up in terms of the do not touch policy?

Have you been to any MOMAs?

 

[Ultryx]

I'd be up for prison time for all these guys. This shit is just ridiculous and disrespectful. I can't stand hearing about stuff like this.

If no jail time, then you can bet your ass they're going to perform thousands of hours of community service. You can clean the shit from my toilet, ass holes.

 

[Zeus Molecules]

I can't believe there are people in here genuinely suggesting that three people go to prison because they pushed over a large rock. It beggars belief.

yeah man put them in jail..... at the very least for being stupid enough to film themselves in the act of disrupting a rock formation that has existed since the damn dinosaurs.

 

[HovaHovito]

I'd be up for prison time for all these guys. This shit is just ridiculous and disrespectful. I can't stand hearing about stuff like this.

If no jail time, then you can bet your ass they're going to perform thousands of hours of community service. You can clean the shit from my toilet, ass holes.

Community service at the park sounds perfect along with a fine

 

[Zeus Molecules]

Community service at the park sounds perfect along with a fine

so they could destroy more stuff around the park? nope a lifetime ban from all national parks should be a part of their punishment as well.

 

[Ultryx]

Community service at the park sounds perfect along with a fine

Yep. I'm thinking state parks and national parks. Anything to help that which they destroyed.

 

[alr1ght]

Boy Scouts to rock topplers: GTFO

The two men involved in the in a Utah state park have been stripped of their leadership positions in the Boy Scouts of America and drummed out of scouting altogether.

A terse statement issued by the Utah National Parks Council of the BSA does not name Glenn Taylor and David Hall but it says "based on the actions of the individuals involved with the Goblin Valley incident, the Utah National Parks Council has removed them from their leadership positions in the Boy Scouts of America."

 

[Rentahamster]

the journalist's name is Devon Dolan.

we've come full circle

Clydefrog pls

 

[Lucky Forward]

How much is a 200-million-year-old rock formation worth?

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57025473-78/goblin-hayes-park-valley.html.csp

The biggest issue for investigators will be determining the value of the destroyed formation, something Utah State Parks Director Fred Hayes said is "almost impossible." That value will help dictate the level of legal punishment if the case is pursued by Emery County officials.

"We are looking at the intrinsic value, and that cannot be measured in dollars and cents," Hayes said. "But our legal system is based on dollars and cents, so we have to look at what it might cost to go back and replace it."

 

[jerry1594]

There sure is a lot of generalization and ad hominem attacks in this thread.

lol

 

[xxracerxx]

Boy Scouts to rock topplers: GTFO

Adios idiots.

 

[Orbis Tabula]

If they don't use the crosswalk, yes.

This was a brilliant pun.

 

[Kajigger]

I give up on humanity.

*sigh*

It's just a rock. An old one, but still just a rock.

 

[CorvoSol]

Fucking dumbass hick Mormons. Hope they're prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Is there a reason people keep bringing up that these people were Mormons? As one, it's sort of annoying to see it thrown around as an insult.

 

[Shotgun Kiss]

Jesus Christ, Marie, they're minerals.

 

[xxracerxx]

*sigh*

It's just a rock. An old one, but still just a rock.

You know it is just an expression and not a statement right?

 

[speculawyer]

Previously when I thought of Scouts in Utah, I thought of the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Now I'm going to think about these fat schmucks.

 

[gaugebozo]

Kind of off topic, but as an American, I was so surprised the first time I visited the various museums in Paris, like the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay. Everything on display was exposed, relatively unprotected and all within arm's reach. Priceless art, statues, heirlooms, and artifacts. Yet everyone, including all tourists, seemed to respect and obey the do not touch signs. The exposed white marble on all the statues had no discoloration and no visible wear. I always had the impression that if these same items were on display in the US, the parts within reach would be black due to people not fighting their urges to touch them. Putting them in glass cases would almost be a given in order to preserve them. Maybe my impressions are wrong, but I'd be curious if anyone felt the same way. Are there any museums in the US that have exposed artifacts to the same degree as the Paris ones above? How do they hold up in terms of the do not touch policy?

Although it's known mainly for face stabbings, Detroit has the Detroit Institute of Art which contains an excellent example of respecting the do not touch signs:

People have touched this donkey so much over the years that it has worn down and is now the only thing they encourage you to touch. As far as I know, the rest of the mueseum is more or less unprotected except for guards (even the Van Goughs!), and there aren't any problems:

 

[speedline]

Sometimes a rock is just a rock.

 

[bjb]

Can't say I'm really shocked by what idiotic endeavors that overweight hillbilly mormons partake in during their free time.

 

[speedline]

Can't say I'm really shocked by what idiotic endeavors that overweight hillbilly mormons partake in during their free time.

So this just confirms your prejudice?

 

[BeEatNU]

Last year my family and I took a tour through one of the Oregon caves national parks. It was an incredibly, startlingly beautiful experience. The rock formations deep in the caves were crazy. Our guide pointed out all the places idiots had vandalized or destroyed parts of the cave, even though it was a felony to do so. It wouldn't take long for the place to be completely destroyed - an absolute national treasure, stolen from future generations, because people just moved "rocks". Rocks that had been there and formed over millions of years.

That kind of wanton destruction should be punished pretty harshly. If not, places like this simply won't exist for future generations to enjoy.

I couldn't agree more.

 

[Aristion]

I'd be in favor of life in prison with no chance of parole. Fuck these useless morons.

So a punishment on-par with manslaughter?

 

[woxel1]

So a punishment on-par with manslaughter?

I say stone them to death.

 

[Chie Satonaka]

I mean...

Don't mess around with national parks.

Don't do it.

If they go to jail, I won't lose any sleep over it. If they get a hefty fine, I won't cry about it.

It's really weird to hear people saying "They're just rocks!" over and over.

 

[TAJ]

*sigh*

It's just a rock. An old one, but still just a rock.

And you're just a bag of oxygen and hydrogen.

 

[Kajigger]

You know it is just an expression and not a statement right?

Yeah, I'm sick of seeing it though haha.

And you're just a bag of oxygen and hydrogen.

I am.

 

[itwasTuesday]

The rock had a good long life.

 

[Kimawolf]

Wow... It's not :just a rock.." It's been there longer than human history, never moved, the poor fucking rock was minding its own business for 200 MILLION years, then here comes a human and destroys it.

Fuck it, throw the bums in jail for 20 year busting rocks.

 

[Koomaster]

How much is a 200-million-year-old rock formation worth?

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57025473-78/goblin-hayes-park-valley.html.csp

"But our legal system is based on dollars and cents, so we have to look at what it might cost to go back and replace it."

"Well first we will need a time machine which I estimate the cost to research and build to be 870 quadrillion dollars....."

How would you even go about estimating something like that? Courts should really have a category for irreplaceable objects which ranks pretty high in the dollars & cents hierarchy.

 

[shaowebb]

I cant. I just cant. The more I read this thread the more instances of priceless treasures and historical items being damaged and treated callously keep coming up. I just cant continue...I just dont want to keep seeing things this blindingly stupid. My God... I just cant anymore.

 

[Dead Man]

Update: Scout Leaders Who Toppled Ancient Rock Formation Are Charged

A former Boy Scout leader who toppled an ancient rock formation in , and another Scout leader who videotaped the incident, are being charged with criminal mischief.

, David Hall filmed Glenn Taylor pushing over a giant, mushroom-shaped sandstone pillar, , that dates back to the Jurassic Period, 145 to 170 million years ago. The video was posted online, where it went viral. The pair, and a third man, are heard cheering as the pillar topples over.

At the time both Hall and Taylor were leading a Scouting trip, but they were later

Hall is accused of criminal mischief and Taylor with assisting criminal mischief, both felonies.

The pair have claimed that the rock formation was precarious and could have hurt someone had it unexpectedly fallen over.

The Associated Press reports:

"Emery County Attorney David Blackwell said he filed the charges Friday but is trying to negotiate a plea deal."

"Both men, of Highland, Utah, about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City, were ordered to appear in state court March 18 ..."

"'We are taking it seriously,' Blackwell said. 'It's been an interesting case, mostly because of the attention it's garnered.'"

"Blackwell said any defense asserting the goblin-shaped rock was ready to tip over 'would need to have a lot of expert testimony, and it would probably go both ways.'"

quotes Hall on Friday as saying that the men have already apologized and "said what needed to be said" about the incident.

 

[bodyboarder]

Is criminal mischief jail time?