Yellowstone Misinformation Called "Hogwash"

Above, a geothermal hot spring in Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

There's a lot of scammers out there. For the past ten hours, I have been dealing with counterfeit "silver" coins that I purchased. 

Scams now come in all shapes and sizes.

There's a story about Yellowstone National Park with misinformation being bandied about the park being closed due to an alleged "imminent eruption" of the park's caldera. It is totally bogus.

Oregon Live posted:

Did you hear that Yellowstone National Park is closed? Well, it’s not.

At this point, any time we start a story with ‘did you hear...’ it’s a pretty safe bet that the thing you heard is online misinformation. That’s definitely the case with this one.

It’s true that Yellowstone did close areas last summer due to historic floods in the park. But the current claim circulating online -- that park officials have “closed down the park” due to a rising “volcanic uplift” -- has nothing to do with the very real floods back in June. Also, it isn’t true on any of the facts -- the park remains open, and there are no current signs of any “uplift.”

Claims about an imminent eruption of Yellowstone’s supervolcano pop up online pretty regularly -- and it’s easy to understand why. The Yellowstone caldera has erupted in the distant past, with global consequences, and modern scientists do monitor it for signs of volcanic activity.

That does not, however, mean an eruption is expected any time soon.

It seems that some people have nothing better to do than to spread misinformation and scam people.

To read more, go here. 

The Fine Should Have Been Greater

Above, Crater Lake National Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

An Oregon man was fined $200 for damage he caused in a section of Crater Lake National Park.

According to OregonLive:

An Oregon man created more than $60,000 in damages after driving off-road at Crater Lake National Park, destroying part of a sensitive natural environment as a friend took pictures. 

Evan Metz, from Grants Pass, ultimately paid $200 for the damages he caused in a section of the park called the Pumice Desert, after his insurance company paid the damage assessment costs of more than $60,000, park officials said in a news release Friday. 

The incident took place in July, 2018, when Metz entered the desert and drove in circles, officials said. In the process, he dug ruts 12 inches deep and caused “widespread vegetation mortality,” destroying at least 15 species of native plants.

Even though is insurance company paid the bulk of the loss, Metz should have been fined more than $200 and should have served some jail time. This is even below speeding ticket fines. This was too lenient.

According to the article:

 The crime can result in a fine of up to $2,000 and six months in federal prison.

To read more, go here.