Conviction for Illegal Guiding in Zion National Park

[Iceaxe]

Conviction for Illegal Guiding in Zion National Park
Date: September 1, 2009

According to Zion National Park Superintendent Jock Whitworth, Dennis Fisher of Spanish Fork, UT pled guilty on August 17, 2009 in St. George Magistrate Court, to conducting an illegal guiding service within the boundaries of the park. For several years, Fisher and his company TPC Sports had advertised illegal guided canyoneering trips in the park

[Iceaxe]

FWIW: Here is an old Bogley thread on TPC Sports and guiding.

http://www.bogley.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9529

[Sombeech]

So, which Bogley member ratted them out?

[Iceaxe]

So, which Bogley member ratted them out?

I've had several discussions with the park in regards to guiding.... I've made specific inquiries with regards to what TPC Sports, the Sierra Club, the ACA, Tom Fest and Bogley Fest do....

Here is what I have been told..... straight up charging for a route as TPC was doing is a big no-no....

Tom Fests and Bogley Fests are a non-issue as neither charges a membership fee or attendance fee. They just have to abide by the group limits in a specific drainage.

What the Sierra Club and ACA has done in the past is also apparently legal, which is they charge both a membership fee combined with an attendance fee for the event.

So I asked The Park if it was acceptable for me to start a club with two members, charge a $300 membership fee to join the club, and hold a canyoneering event at Zion with an attendance fee of $500? I was told under the current rules that would be acceptable (but would be highly frowned upon). This deal would also allow a club to carry insurance and provide qualified guides.

So bottom line is if you want to guide in the park you apparently have to put lipstick and a dress on the pig and call it something other than a pig.

But to answer your original question with regards to TPC..... when I ratted them out I was told "Were already on it". Personally I have no problem with professional guiding. I just don't want to have to compete with them for a limited resource (permits).

[oldno7]

I charged money for the trip's I led at this year's bogleyfest.

[oldno7]

But only on the canyon's in the park, the ones outside of the park didn't seem worthy of compensation.

[Iceaxe]

I charged money for the trip's I led...

The important thing we learned from all of this is that a "Zion Guide Permit" costs $1000. So my advise is to make sure you are charging enough with your guide fee to cover the cost of the "Zion Guide Permit".

[trackrunner]

couldn't find TPC Sports website anymore. Looks like it was taken down

[stefan]

So, which Bogley member ratted them out?

well i can't say i ratted them out, but during the june prior to iceaxe's original post about TCP canyoneering, i had stumbled on the TCP site when i was doing my periodic search for canyoneering links to put up on my site. the TCP site was actually getting relatively high rankings under the google search terms "canyoneering" and "canyoneering utah".

i hadn't seen the site before and wondered about them. i forwarded the link to tom jones to ask if he knew anything about them. i believe he hadn't heard of them, but he did assess that there were all sorts of problems with their service, beyond the guiding services within zion which, as we all know, is illegal.

bad apples have consequences for the whole. the warnings should have been enough, one would think.

i have to admit, the undercover operation is wild stuff!

[Felicia]

I charged money for the trip's I led...

The important thing we learned from all of this is that a "Zion Guide Permit" costs $1000. So my advise is to make sure you are charging enough with your guide fee to cover the cost of the "Zion Guide Permit".

In California, a fine as has a penalty assessment and additional fees attached that make the total astronomical. A $1000.00 fine in California is approximately $3300.00. I have a feeling that the total bill will be more that $1000.00.

[Iceaxe]

In California, a fine as has a penalty assessment and additional fees attached that make the total astronomical. A $1000.00 fine in California is approximately $3300.00. I have a feeling that the total bill will be more that $1000.00.

I have no clue about penalty assessments and such.... I do know that if you break the other rules like no permit, group to large, to many from the same affiliation in the same drainage, yada yada, the park just writes you a ticket that you can pay through the mail just like a traffic ticket.

I would be really curious to know more of the details of this illegal guiding deal. Did it actually go to court or was a ticket issued and paid. I mean come on.... this has to be the first sting operation in canyoneering history..... **insert Miami Vice music here** .....

[mhambi]

I would be really curious to know more of the details of this illegal guiding deal. Did it actually go to court or was a ticket issued and paid. I mean come on.... this has to be the first sting operation in canyoneering history..... **insert Miami Vice music here** .....

Let me put on my Tubbs pink shirt.

Docket summary:

Date Filed # Docket Text
07/28/2009 1 PETTY INFORMATION (Violation Notice 0731182/UP24) as to Dennis W. Fisher (1) count(s) 1. Assigned to Magistrate Judge Robert T. Braithwaite Arraignment set for 8/17/2009 09:00 AM in Room 13 (St George) before Magistrate Judge Robert T. Braithwaite. (gss) (Entered: 07/29/2009)
07/29/2009 2 **SEALED DOCUMENT** Summons Issued in case as to Dennis W. Fisher (gss) (Entered: 07/29/2009)
08/17/2009 3 Minute Entry for proceedings held before Magistrate Judge Robert T. Braithwaite: Initial Appearance as to Dennis W. Fisher held on 8/17/2009. Defendant present. Charging document read, rights and penalties explained. the defendant wishes to proceed pro se. Plea and Sentence Hearing held on 8/17/2009 for Dennis W. Fisher (1), Count(s) 1, The Defendant shall pay a fine of $1000 SPA $25. The Defendant is banned from Zion National Park for a period of two years. The defendant shall pay the fine and fees in full within three months. A review to be held on November 16, 2009, at 9:00 a.m. If the fine and fees are paid in full, the defendant need not appear. Dennis W. Fisher (1) Plea of guilty and sentencing on Count 1. Attorney for Plaintiff: Paul Kohler, Attorney for Defendant: Pro Se. Probation Officer: Coby Leavitt, Cordell Wilson, Brian Blevins. Court Reporter: Electronic.(Tape #: 112, Log #: 1949/recalled3049.) (gss) (Entered: 08/19/2009)
08/18/2009 5 JUDGMENT as to Dennis W. Fisher. Signed by Magistrate Judge Robert T. Braithwaite on 08/18/09. (gss) (Entered: 08/19/2009)
08/19/2009 4 NOTICE OF HEARING as to Dennis W. Fisher (Notice generated by RTB chambers) Status Conference set for 11/16/2009 09:00 AM in Room 13 (St George) before Magistrate Judge Robert T. Braithwaite. If the fine and fees are paid in full, the defendant need not appear.
Court Address: 196 East Tabernacle, St George, Utah (gss) (Entered: 08/19/2009)

Copy of the filed judgment:




Oh, and an 'archived' version of the TPC Sports website... doesn't show much though. (there is a Zion Canyon tab, not archived)

http://web.archive.org/web/200706060...ering+Utah.htm

[ratagonia]

I passed their website to enforcement at BLM / Swell also.

T

[Don]

I was thinking about this thread last night. A friend of a friend in California wants to try canyoneering and offered to pay for my trip to Zion (food, gas, hotel and liquor) if I could come down this weekend and take them through some canyons.
First of all, no way do I feel qualified to guide someone (see the noob thread). Second, it's legally questionable. And third, I just don't want the responsibility; if I have a weekend to go hiking I want to do so without worrying about killing someone.

That being said, I probably would have done it if the friend of a friend had been a couple of women rather than a couple of guys.