In the middle of March, just past, two former Boy Scout leaders, Glenn Taylor and David Hall both pled guilty to felony criminal mischief charges, thus avoiding jail time. I thought the deal was a little lax, since the men are only on probation for one year. But they will be making restitution, only so far no one has decided what that restitution will be. You see, Taylor and Hall destroyed a natural rock formation in Utah's Goblin Valley State Park while they were leading a troop of boy scouts on a nature hike. This formation, a balanced boulder, was believed to be over 170 million years old. So how much money could these men pay that would make up for the damage they caused? As I said before, the formation was priceless, and any amount these men could reasonably be forced to pay would not replace the treasure that was lost.
Both men were immediately booted out of Boy Scouts for violating the Scouts' "no traces" policy. The men not only violated one of the most fundamental rules of scouting, but did so while "leading" some young scouts. I hope that the scouts learned the lesson of not destroying the environment rather than the lesson of how "fun" it can be to have the power to knock down a balanced rock. But then one of these great scout leaders, Mr. Hall tried to justify this action, amid WORLDWIDE outrage, by creating the lame excuse that they were trying to save lives. Really??? His own words:
Some little kid was about ready to walk down here and die, and Glenn saved his life by getting the boulder out of the way, so it’s all about saving lives here in Goblin Valley.
It's all about saving lives here in Goblin Valley, is it, Mr. Hall? Lame...lame. Like I said above, I am not sure that one year of probation is severe enough, and no amount of money these men could afford to pay would restore the formation. We humans tend to say anything we can when we are the focus of outrage and of possible criminal prosecution, but Mr. Hall's feeble claim that Mr. Taylor was acting only to save a life was as ludicrous as Mr. Taylor's action in destroying the formation was outrageous. Again, I hope the Boy Scouts who witnessed this most outrageous act learned to follow their scouting credos rather than follow the example set by these two men.
Whether the penalty was severe enough or not aside, I appreciate very much that the State of Utah went forward with the prosecution. I hope very strongly that the relatively light sentence will still serve as a deterrent for future would-be "nature vandals." Wouldn't it be nice if vandals just broke their own stuff rather than ruining things that belong to others, especially a natural treasure like that balanced rock, that belonged to all the people?
Both men were immediately booted out of Boy Scouts for violating the Scouts' "no traces" policy. The men not only violated one of the most fundamental rules of scouting, but did so while "leading" some young scouts. I hope that the scouts learned the lesson of not destroying the environment rather than the lesson of how "fun" it can be to have the power to knock down a balanced rock. But then one of these great scout leaders, Mr. Hall tried to justify this action, amid WORLDWIDE outrage, by creating the lame excuse that they were trying to save lives. Really??? His own words:
Some little kid was about ready to walk down here and die, and Glenn saved his life by getting the boulder out of the way, so it’s all about saving lives here in Goblin Valley.
It's all about saving lives here in Goblin Valley, is it, Mr. Hall? Lame...lame. Like I said above, I am not sure that one year of probation is severe enough, and no amount of money these men could afford to pay would restore the formation. We humans tend to say anything we can when we are the focus of outrage and of possible criminal prosecution, but Mr. Hall's feeble claim that Mr. Taylor was acting only to save a life was as ludicrous as Mr. Taylor's action in destroying the formation was outrageous. Again, I hope the Boy Scouts who witnessed this most outrageous act learned to follow their scouting credos rather than follow the example set by these two men.
Whether the penalty was severe enough or not aside, I appreciate very much that the State of Utah went forward with the prosecution. I hope very strongly that the relatively light sentence will still serve as a deterrent for future would-be "nature vandals." Wouldn't it be nice if vandals just broke their own stuff rather than ruining things that belong to others, especially a natural treasure like that balanced rock, that belonged to all the people?
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