I wouldn't want to be Timothy McGurr:
Y’stone investigates drone photo of Grand Prismatic
A New York photographer is under fire after sharing an aerial image of Yellowstone National Park’s Grand Prismatic Spring on his Instagram page, where he has 717,000 followers.
Photographer Timothy McGurr, who’s better known by the online persona 13thWitness, told followers that he didn’t know drones were illegal in national parks.
“Unless I see specific signage or am told I can’t fly you better believe I will or I’ll certainly try to,” McGurr replied on Instagram to a critic. “I removed the post, something I’ve never done in my life.”
The photo, posted Nov. 6, included a long caption about the hours leading up to its capture and is now the subject of a federal investigation.
Timothy McGurr, a New York photographer known as 13thwitness, posted this aerial photo of Grand Prismatic Spring to his more than 700,000 Instagram followers. He removed it after public condemnation. Below the photo he shared an account of finding his way out of the park when returning to a locked entrance at West Yellowstone. Drones were banned from most national parks in 2014.
“I landed at the Billings, Montana, airport around midnight,” McGurr wrote in the now-deleted post. “I opted to drive straight to Yellowstone National Park through the night for four hours to catch PRISMATIC at sunrise.”
In the caption McGurr told followers he arrived at the West Entrance at 6:45 a.m. and “somehow managed to drive right into the park despite the seasonal winter closure” that he said he didn’t know about.
“Once inside I essentially had the entire YNP to myself,” McGurr said. “When exiting the park from the same entrance I entered I was greeted with a padlock and essentially locked in. I eventually found a way out.”
After receiving online criticism for ignoring National Park Service rules, McGurr removed the photo.
“I’ve never had to remove a post over some bulls--t before,” McGurr wrote. “I’m one part livid, two parts amazed by the hate people can project towards me for putting up a photo I basically traveled 24 hours straight for and that I’d been wanting to get for a few weeks.”
Drones were banned from national parks in 2014, according to the National Park Service.
“Drones are not allowed in the park,” a Yellowstone spokesperson told the News&Guide in a brief email. “We are aware of this, and rangers are looking into it.”
Other aerial photos of Grand Prismatic have been taken from airplanes, but critics of McGurr said he admitted to using a drone when he told his over 700,000 followers that he had the park to himself.
“Ignorance of the law is not a defense,” said Deby Dixon, a Gardiner, Montana, resident and wildlife photographer.
Dixon said she is in the park photographing almost daily, and she has noticed laws being ignored more often lately with the rise of visual-driven social media.
“There are really good people who love the park and come here and try to do the right thing, and they’re getting trampled by people who think they can do whatever they want,” Dixon said. “It ruins it for everyone else.”
The Park Service cites a variety of reasons for banning drones.
“Their use has resulted in noise and nuisance complaints from park visitors,” the Park Service states on its website.
Before the ban, park officials said drones were harassing wildlife, and some small drones even crashed into geysers in Yellowstone.
In 2014 Dutch tourist Theodorus Van Vliet crashed his drone into Grand Prismatic and was fined more than $3,000.
Drones have been lost in the Grand Canyon and have attempted to land on Mount Rushmore, the Park Service reports.
“Due to serious concerns about the negative impact that flying unmanned aircraft can have for safety of visitors, staff and wildlife, they have been restricted in all but a few parks,” the Park Service said.
Violation of the ban is a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $5,000 fine.
“NPS just wants money,” McGurr told a follower. “If I would have offered them 5K to fly for a photo, they would have certainly found a way to make it happen for me.”
McGurr said he’s responsible when flying and doesn’t believe what he did was wrong.
“I assume any and all risk/responsibility for my actions when trying to get photos should anything unfortunate happen as a result of it,” he wrote. “That’s what real photographers do.
“I’ve made foolish decisions, and this probably wasn’t one I’m particularly proud of but it happened and it’s over,” he wrote. “Lesson learned.”
Yellowstone officials did not provide any additional information about the investigation.
