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There is a lengthy list of things you are not allowed to do while visiting one of America’s national parks. That includes using them as a playground for extreme sports without permission, and one man who filmed himself BASE jumping off an iconic spot at Yosemite has been hit with federal charges as a result.
More than 300 million people visit the 433 unique sites that are situated on the combined 85 million acres in the United States that are overseen by the National Park Service.
The park rangers tasked with patrolling those areas tend to have their hands full courtesy of the far too many tourists who have trouble adhering to the rules they’re expected to abide by during their visit, and those issues were exacerbated by the lengthy government shutdown that started on October 1st last year and didn’t come to an end until November 12th.
National parks around the country had to grapple with funding issues that led to a reduction in programs and staffing, and some visitors decided to take advantage of the reduced level of oversight to try to get away with illegal behavior and activities.
That would appear to include a BASE jumper who made the trek to Yosemite at the start of October to film a video that has landed him in federal court.
A BASE jumper is facing federal charges after sharing a video of himself leaping from Glacier Point in Yosemite on Instagram
Yosemite National Park covers 1,169 square miles in California and boasts some iconic natural wonders situated in the Sierra Nevada, including El Capitan, the Half Dome, and Glacier Point.
According to SFGate, that last location was the site of a stunt that transpired on the morning of October 8th when Jack Propeck, who has amassed over 11,000 followers on Instagram with the help of his BASE jumping content, allegedly filmed himself leaping off an overlook before descending into Yosemite Valley.
He uploaded the clip to his account before it came to the attention of Cody Hays, a park ranger who has worked at Yosemite since 2022 and received a tip from someone who decided to bring it to his attention.
An affidavit that was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California recapped the investigation he subsequently conducted.
Hays said he was able to confirm Propeck was the person filmed performing the stunt and noted there was no way he could have obtained the permit he claimed to have secured while responding to commenters who questioned the legality of the leap, bluntly stating “Yosemite National Park does not issue permits for BASE jumping.”
Hays added that he contacted Propeck on October 20th only for him to deny he was the person in the video, asserting “he just posts cool videos to his page.” When the ranger informed him that his visage was visible, he claimed he had harnessed “artificial intelligence to superimpose his face.”
You probably will not be shocked to learn Hays did not buy into that excuse, and he determined there was enough evidence to charge Propeck with a violation of a federal statute concerning parachute use in Yosemite. He faces up to six months in jail if he’s found guilty.
This is far from the first time a Content Creator has ended up in trouble for their behavior in a national park; multiple people have been hit with similar charges for hitting baseballs and golf balls into the Grand Canyon, along with another who whacked one of the latter at Yellowstone.