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Update on Fatali Incident


matt_long2

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On Feb. 1, Michael Fatali was sentenced to two years probation

by a federal judge in Salt Lake City. During this period, Fatali is

prohibited from entering Arches and Canyonlands national

parks. In addition to 150 hours of community service, Fatali had

been ordered to pay $10,900 in restitution to the Park Service.

 

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During court proceedings, Fatali also admitted to setting two

fires in the Needles district of Canyonlands in 1997. Federal

officials have seized all the negatives, originals and prints of the

firelight photos.

 

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While the Assistant U.S. Attorney had asked that Fatali be

banned from all NPS lands in Utah, the judge denied the request

saying that the penalty would be "onerous."

 

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Watch out Zion National Park!

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Pat and James:

 

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With the exception of the last tongue in cheek comment, I am

merely paraphrasing an AP report of a subject that has been the

topic of discussion in this forum. Take it or leave it, but don't

make assumptions of what I may or may not have seen at

Delicate Arch.

 

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I might suggest a 1:1 dilution of single malt scotch to soothe

ruffled feathers.

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I think he got off cheap. I wonder if all of you who say lay off the

poor guy (Fatali) also piss and moan about the National Park

Service Rangers giving them grief. Next time you start to get on a

high horse about that subject think first of Michael Fatali setting

fires in the Parks to serve <I>his</I> selfish purpose and his self

righteous posturing.

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I agree he paid his dues to society, lets give him a break now. I

don't know him personally but I guess he must feel quite dumb

and sorry about what he did. I am sure he didn't intend to harm

the Delicate Arch area, he just didn't think ahead.

Anyway he is still a good LF photographer. He made a mistake,

who doesn't, lets hope he learned from it.

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Ellis.

 

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I don't think Fatali got of cheap. I think the outcome of this will

seriously effect his business in the long run, not to say anything

about his reputation as a photographer.

 

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What he did was wrong.. He knows that.. You know that and the courts

know it. But he made a mistake and is paying for it in more ways than

one.

 

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I know Michael personally. We go back a few years when we used to

shoot in Lower Antelope Canyon, before most people had ever heard of

the term 'slot canyon' and I know he would never damage a place of

beauty on purpose.

 

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As for the National Park Service, I personally think they are the

biggest hypocrites ever. They talk about environment issues such as

excessive traffic in the parks, but at the same time penalize

commercial companies with outrageous entrance fees and permits. I'm a

one man band, and for example visit Yosemite no more than twice a

year running photographic workshops, and they require $5,000,000

liability insurance just to enter the park.. do you have any idea how

much a policy like that costs? Then you have an entrance fee of

$125.00 for a fifteen passenger van. Where is the sense in this??

 

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Nigel.

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Nigel,

I too doubt that he would damage that which he worships on

purpose. But I also doubt that Captain Hazelwood grounded the

Valdez on purpose.<P> His bigger crime was that he felt

comfortable teaching a workshop full of students hat what he

was doing was an okay technique. Even if the immediate

damage to Delicate Arch had not occured isn't it fair to suppose

that perhaps not all of his students or the people they pass the

trick to would be as careful or know to be as careful? Sure this is

suppostion on my part but that suppostion is based on what I

know of human nature and also the nature of lessons taught and

learned.

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At the risk of being pedantic, Fatali won't have "paid his debt to

society" until his probation is over, his community service has

been served and his fines have been paid. IMO, suggesting that

people should let him off the hook now, the day after his sentencing,

is a bit premature...

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The fact of the matter is that there are signs at the entrance to

Arches which read "NO CAMPFIRES." I don't think there are any signs

off the coast of Alaska reading "NO OIL SPILLS." Accidents happen...

oftentimes when laws are broken. The damage to the area around

Delicate Arch obviously just made matters worse for him, but Mr.

Fatali should never have lit the fires in the first place. I'm sure

the judge in the case took into consideration how much money Mr.

Fatali has brought in through photographing in the parks and on other

federal lands and figured he should know better. Now we all do. I'm

going to be Baby Bear, here, and say the sentence was juuuuuuust

right.<br><br>

 

While we're on the subject of illegal photography (a concept which I

happen to dislike): I think it is in the latest issue of Arizona

Highways that there is an essay on Lake Powell. The article

contains, oddly enough, photographs...by five different guys. One of

the photos is of Rainbow Bridge, which as I recall is actually on

Najavo land and is roped off to prevent tourist-types from

trespassing. The photo, I believe, is from the "back" side (i.e. not

the side from the water approach). Who wants to wager that this

photo was taken illegally?

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Time has not been served at this point so his dept has not been

paid. He purposefully broke the law for personal gain, and no I

don't think the fine was harsh enough. We are talking about icons of

our American heritage that he put into jeopordy, and more than once.

I would hope we would hold these places closer to our hearts and

soles than a lame $11k. I hope I am wrong that he did this for

personal gain and just truely got caught up in an inspirational

moment, then again you would think some rational thought would come

into play during the time lapse of the event..... So many sides,

opinions and views....

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Good Lord! What does ENRON have to do with the price of tea in

China??!! If there is someone out there who has done worse things,

then he must be innocent? <BR>

Personally, I think what he did was far worse than just setting a

fire - far worse than the same act if done by a tourist.<BR>

He has taken groups into the park for years, derived income from

workshops there - he is a PROFESSIONAL, and as such knows the rules,

knows what damage could be done - and knows better!<BR>

Yet he intentionally violated the public trust.<BR>

It was an incredubly arrogant and selfish act - no amount of sugar-

coated "right of expression" or artistic BS can mask that fact.<BR>

What damage was, or was not, done is not important. He did not

just "break the rules", he thumbed his nose....<BR>

Anything short of a lifetime ban means he got off easy. But not as

easy as the rest of the party in the workshop - they all should share

the penalties. I find it very hard to believe that no one else in the

party knew this was wrong!

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Well, if I had been part of that scholarly (?) group, I MIGHT have

thought he had a permit to do it. I might have.

 

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As for the zillion $ liability, we can thank our tort claim lawyer

friends. The US had a lot of money and there is no reason why they

shouldn't have some of it. So insurance to beat that off the

Treasury.

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Well, when I see all the venom spat on Fatali in this forum, I feel

sad and ashamed to be a part of the LF community. I am in the middle

of preparing a portfolio for some US galleries but am at this very

moment somewhat discouraged and disgusted.

 

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I think we (with my friend Paul, well known in this forum) should

invite Michel Fatali to come to Switzerland for some time to get rid

of this howling. Fires are allowed here in most places. You bet he

would bring back some fine pictures.

 

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I wish good light to all of you.

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Firstly I was not castigating the bearer of the report on the Fatali

incident alone but all of you. Who on this forum went to Delicate Arch

after the incident and actually looked at the damage? Anyone? Who on

this forum has spent more than one day picking up all the damn

cigarette butts, beer cans, and trash left by all the tourists that

descend on Delicate Arch everyday? Who on this forum actually read all

of the accounts of the incident and the appology Fatali offered? ME.

Anyone else? You "should" be indignant of what he did. You should be

indignant of all the damage visited on Delicate Arch by all the damn

tourists that visit because the National Park service advertizes the

Park around the world. It spends more on advertizing outside the US

than inside it. The damage caused by Fatali wasn't done on purpose no

more than somneone having an accident on a rain slick road. He tried

to do something that backfired. He thought he was taking enough

precautions but was guilty of not thinking it through far enough. The

fires in the pans didn't cause the damage but the act of putting out

the fires in the dark and tracking soot around the area which 3 weeks

later I couldn't see. Hell the Park Service cut a trail along a rock

face to facilitate the publics access to the place but no one

castigates them for that. There are plans to install handrails along

the ledge to lessen the liability to the Park Service. As with most

things the Park Service(now that's an oxymoron if I ever heard one)

does they are the worst offenders of all. When I say leave Fatali

alone I mean let's get on to bigger and better things like writing

your representatives about the stupid rules they enact that exacerbate

the crowding in the parks. Fatali should be the least of your

concerns. And if you could have seen the minor smudges on the

rocks(which were very hard to make out, if that was them to begin

with, you would see how over blown the Park Service made this out to

be. Example. You were speeding and you misjudged the turn and hit

someone and caused a fender to be bent. The police give you a speeding

ticket and you pay to replace the fender. You didn't mean to cause the

accident. And you pay for it. Fatali tries something he thinks will

make a nice image. He means no harm but in his oversight he tramps

some soot over the rocks. He did't mean to but it happened. He offers

an apology and pays for the cleanup. He then is severly(in relation to

the actual damage caused) punished. He files no appeal. He takes his

lumps and goes on. If you count "all" the things stemming from this

incident, I think you will see that he has paid his due. The loss of

workshops and print/poster sales through the Arizona Highways alone

was probably close to tens of thousands of dollars. His reputation is

continually tarnished by repeated newspaper and magazine articles

detailing the trial and incident. I think this is enough. Oh! You mean

that you don't like landscape images or images that are full of color

as so many of you espouse here? Well too bad. Get a life and get over

it. If you didn't go and see the paltry amount of damage right after

the incident then how can you accurately judge the severity of the

crime and the severity of the punishment? Why not use that energy and

tackle the biggest problem. The Park Service which is your biggest

enemy. Oh. And go look at all the topurist names that are carved into

the rocks around there. You won't find Fatali's name there at least.

James Mickelson

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