Fatali Pleads Guilty to All Charges

 

Source: Salt Lake Tribune see URL below

http://www.sltribune.com/2001/dec/12082001/utah/156120.htm

 

Photographer Fatali Pleads Guilty in Fires

 

Saturday, December 8, 2001

 

 

BY MICHAEL VIGH

THE SALT LAKE

TRIBUNE

 

Springdale nature photographer Michael Fatali

pleaded guilty Friday to seven federal misdemeanors

for starting fires in two Utah national parks, including a

blaze that marred sandstone underneath Delicate Arch

-- the state icon that graces some license plates.

 

 

Fatali, who started the fires to achieve dramatic

lighting effects during photo shoots, faces up to 6

months in federal prison and a $5,000 fine on each

count when he is sentenced in February. Fatali has

agreed to pay restitution to the National Park Service, a

sum that prosecutors estimate will be $16,000.

 

Fatali lit the fires with Duraflame logs on Sept. 18

and 19, 2000, to demonstrate to amateur photographers

"nighttime photographic techniques," he admitted in a

statement to prosecutors. The unauthorized fires

scorched and discolored sections of sandstone beneath

and next to Delicate Arch in Arches National Park,

prosecutors say.

 

Fatali also admitted Friday that in August 1997 he set

two fires at Canyonlands National Park that also

damaged park resources.

 

Prosecutor Wayne Dance said Fatali's crimes have

untold victims. Thousands of tourists visit the parks

each year.

 

"Our national parks are here for the enjoyment of

current and future generations," Dance said. "It's a

matter that's very serious."

 

Fatali declined to comment and his attorney, Kristine

Rogers, deferred comment until her client is sentenced

on Feb. 1, 2001.

 

In his statement to prosecutors, Fatali said he brought

aluminum pans to the shoots to contain the fire. The

pans failed, however, and the Duraflame logs burned

directly on the sandstone, causing damage directly

under and to the west and east of the arch.

 

Fatali also said some of the sooty, oily residue was

tracked onto the sandstone after he stomped on the

duraflame logs. Fatali told U.S. Magistrate Samuel

Alba he did not have a permit to light any of the fires.

 

Park visitors reported the damage to rangers the next

morning.

 

Officials were able to remove some of the scorch

marks immediately, but remaining scars from the fire

have proven difficult for park service employees to

eradicate.

 

On Aug. 12, 1997, Fatali used wood from

Canyonlands National Park to build a fire at Horsehoof

Arch. The next day, he did the same thing at a slot

canyon known as "The Joint Trail."

 

Fatali, 36, who is known for his stunning images of

Utah's desert landscapes, operates a gallery outside

Zion National Park in Springdale and a photography

school in nearby Rockville.

 

 

 

 

Photographer admits fire role

 

By Angie Welling

Deseret News staff writer

Friday, December 7, 2001

 

The nature photographer accused of setting fires at

Delicate Arch last year pleaded

guilty Friday in federal court.

 

Michael Fatali, Springdale, also pleaded guilty to

setting two fires in Canyonlands

National Park in August 1997. The 36-year-old

professional photographer faces up to six

months in prison and a $5,000 fine for each of the seven

misdemeanor counts.

 

Fatali also agreed to pay full restitution to the

National Park Service for damage

caused by the fires. Restoration is estimated at more

than $16,000.

 

On Sept. 18, 2000, Fatali led a group of amateur

photographers to Delicate Arch to

photograph the famous four-story sandstone arch, which is

the backdrop of some Utah

license plates. At his direction, Fatali's assistant and

others from the group set two fires,

one directly under the arch and another to the east of

the structure. Aluminum baking

pans brought along to contain the fire failed, and the

flames scorched and discolored the

sandstone. Fatali tried to stomp out the fires, but one

was still burning when the group left the area.

 

 

Park visitors reported the damage to rangers the next

morning.

Officials were able to remove some of the scorch marks

immediately, but remaining

scars from the fire could not be removed because an oily

or waxy stain had penetrated

the rock.

 

Fatali on Friday also admitted to starting two fires in

Canyonlands National Park, the

first on Aug. 12, 1997, at Horsehoof Arch and again on

Aug. 13, 1997, at the Joint Trails

Needles District. He used wood from within the park to

start the two fires, he said.

 

According to prosecutors, in November 2000 Fatali sent an

e-mail message to members of the photography community

apologizing for what happened, saying he

"seriously regretted" the incident. "I simply screwed

up," the message said.

 

Defense attorney Kristine Rogers declined to comment

Friday, saying Fatali would

make a statement after his Feb. 1, 2002, sentencing

hearing.

 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Dance said Fatali fully

acknowledged his criminal

conduct by pleading guilty to all seven counts as

charged.

 

"It's a matter that's very serious," Dance said. "All of

our national parks are for the

enjoyment of future generations."

 

Source: Deseret News at the URL below

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,355010921,00.html?

 

 

 

Thanks for the detailed report. I think the seriousness of the Fatali case is very different from the recent Weldon Lee "busted" case, although both incidents didn't make us nature photographers look good. However, I think we have already spent a lot of bandwidth on the Fatali case in the last year. After a bunch of us threw rocks at Weldon Lee, I sure hope that we can take a break. :-)

Sad, sad commentary on some folks who apparently view public lands as their own domain. It surely will make it harder on the rest of us. Of course I'm convinced Mr. Fatali made a nice profit on his workshops and images using areas that cost him nothing to access.

maybe if Fatali had been "busted" earlier for minor offenses like the ones Lee was charged for, he never would have gotten this far.