Three members of High On Life, a Canadian group of filmmakers, will pay fines and serve five years of probation for various misdeeds in Yellowstone and other national parks; two of them will also serve a week in jail. All three are banned from national parks and public lands in the United States for five years.

Those sentences were handed down Thursday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Carman at the Yellowstone Justice Center in Mammoth Hot Springs. High on Life was the subject of multiple investigations by the National Park Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management following violations that first came to light in May when the group posted photos online of its members walking on the Grand Prismatic Spring at Yellowstone.

Charles Ryker Gamble, Alexey Andriyovych Lyakh and Justis Cooper Price Brown pleaded guilty to violations in Yellowstone National Park, Zion National Park, Death Valley National Park, and Mesa Verde National Park. 

Gamble and Lyakh pleaded guilty to charges in Yellowstone that include disorderly conduct by creating a hazardous condition and foot travel in a thermal area. They also pleaded guilty to charges for commercial photography without a permit in Zion National Park; use of a drone in a closed area, riding a bike in wilderness, and commercial photography without a permit in Death Valley National Park; and the use of a drone in a closed area in Mesa Verde National Park. 

Gamble and Lyakh will serve seven days in jail, pay more than $2,000 in fines, restitution, community service payments paid to Yellowstone Forever and fees. They will be on probation for five years, which includes being banned from public lands managed by the U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  They also must remove all photographs and videos of the public lands where they were charged with violations from their social media accounts. 

Price Brown pleaded guilty to charges in Yellowstone National Park that include disorderly conduct by creating a hazardous condition and foot travel in a thermal area. He agreed to pay more than $3,500 in fines, restitution, community service payments paid to Yellowstone Forever and fees. He too will be on probation for five years, including being banned from public lands managed by the U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

“The judge’s decision today sends a strong and poignant message about thermal feature protection and safety,” said Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Dan Wenk. “We implore all visitors to learn about the rules in Yellowstone, respect the rules and follow them. We ask visitors to take the Yellowstone Pledge. Protect your park and protect yourselves by staying on the boardwalks. If you witness resource violations, call 911 or contact a park ranger.” 

Two other High on Life members, Hamish Cross and Parker Heuser, were sentenced in November after pleading guilty to similar charges. 

Cross pleaded guilty to charges in Yellowstone including disorderly conduct by creating a hazardous condition and foot travel in a thermal area. He agreed to pay over $8,000 in fines, restitution, community service payments and fees.

Heuser pleaded guilty to two violations in Death Valley National Park including riding a bike in wilderness and commercial photographs without a permit. He will also pay for collateral fines that stemmed from violations at the Bonneville Salt Flats. He agreed to pay more than $1,000 in fines and fees. Heuser was not charged any violations in Yellowstone National Park.

On May 16, 2016, a concerned citizen contacted park rangers in Yellowstone National Park, after seeing four individuals walking on Grand Prismatic Spring. During the course of the investigation, park rangers identified the four individuals involved in the violations in Yellowstone National Park and arrest warrants were issued. Through the use of social media and tips from the public, additional investigations were conducted about the group’s activities on other federal lands. 

The High On Life group was issued violation notices from:

• Zion National Park

• Death Valley National Park

• Yellowstone National Park

• Mesa Verde National Park 

• Corona Arch (BLM) 

• Bonneville Salt Flats (BLM)