In May, a Springfield man died after falling while hiking along a steep path in Arkansas' Buffalo National River area. This week, the Bentonville man who led the hike was convicted of doing so without the permit required inside a national park.
The May 7 hike was an Arkansas Nature Lover’s event shared on the group’s Facebook and Meetup pages. It drew 31 people to the Indian Creek area of the national river to embark on what was described in event posts as a challenging hike to the Eye of the Needle. The group included Brad Lee Thomas, a Springfield resident who fell along a narrow portion of the path into a pool of water about 15 to 20 feet below.
Following a federal bench trial on Tuesday, Jeffrey M. Johnson, 47, the hiking group leader, was found guilty of one count of engaging in or soliciting business inside a national park and one count of soliciting money inside a national park without a permit. Johnson was found not guilty of engaging in an activity subject to a permit requirement without obtaining a permit.
Both counts Johnson was convicted on are federal petty offenses, punishable by a maximum of six months in jail and a fine. Johnson is set to be sentenced on March 7. Johnson's attorney, Chris Flanagin, said in an email to the Daily Citizen he will reserve comment until after Johnson's sentencing.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Arkansas, Johnson accepted at least four payments of $20 in the Kyle’s Landing parking lot for his guide services.
On Facebook and Meetup, the news release states, “Johnson advertised membership to his group, which included attendance at as many of his hikes as the member wished, for a $20 annual fee, payable through Paypal, check or cash at the first event attended.”
The release states Johnson told park rangers he had led hikes in the Buffalo National River area over the past seven years, and testimony showed he had “never applied for or received a permit to engage in business within the park or to solicit money within the park,” the release states.
The June incident rattled the leaders and attendees of social hiking groups this summer, sparking conversations about casual hiking groups and certified guides.
Johnson did not testify in the federal bench trial that took place on Dec. 6, but said in an interview with the Daily Citizen in May that he never tried to present himself as a licensed guide. He said the $20 annual fee is a donation request to offset the costs of starting the private hiking group page on Meetup and to cover the cost of gas to drive to areas that he pre-hikes before determining that they will be event hikes. One of the defense witnesses, Richard Hammerle, was one of dozens of Arkansas Nature Lover’s group members who emailed the Daily Citizen to support Johnson, saying that “never has Jeff claim (sic) to be a guide, or taken a dime from anyone for taking them on a hike.”
Thomas, the Springfield man who died on the hike, commented on the Meetup post about the Eye of the Needle hike that he and other Springfield hikers would be attending, and that they would bring $20 apiece for the group’s annual fee.
“Looking forward to meeting all of you and enjoying this adventure together,” Thomas, 46, wrote.
Coroner: Springfield hiker who died had ‘very, very small amount' of alcohol in system; says toxicology test was negative
In May, the Newton County, Arkansas, coroner said an autopsy would not be conducted on Thomas, but a toxicology report would be, because a container with alcohol in it was found with Thomas.
The coroner, Cody Middleton, told the Daily Citizen that the toxicology report was negative for alcohol.
Middleton said 0.01 percent of ethanol, or a “very, very small amount,” was found in Thomas’ blood. The legal limit to drive in Missouri is 0.08.
Both Johnson and a family member interviewed by the Springfield News-Leader said Thomas and another hiker turned around on the challenging path to the Eye of the Needle, a rock formation at the turnaround of a 5.4-mile path Johnson described as both steep and slippery in the event description. The path involved crossing a creek and utilizing ropes to summit a hill near the Eye of the Needle.
The other hiker was Veronica Gilmore, who testified during Johnson's trial that she and Thomas turned back due to safety concerns about the next section of the hike, according to an account of Johnson's trial from the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Gilmore said she told another hiker the two were turning around, according to the Democrat-Gazette. Johnson told the Daily Citizen in May he didn't know Thomas and the other hiker had turned around until another member of the group told him about 20 minutes after they had left the group.
Gilmore testified that she and Thomas waited for the rest of the group for about three hours at a spot where the group had breaked for lunch earlier that day, according to the Democrat-Gazette. They left the area because Gilmore had fallen and was wet, and it was getting dark, she testified.
“It wasn't clear from Gilmore's testimony exactly when Thomas fell or if she had witnessed the accident,” the Democrat-Gazette story states.
Johnson said in May it was a tragedy, that he felt awful for Thomas’ family and that he wished Thomas and his friend had heeded his advice to stay with the group. Hours after learning they had turned around, members of the group came upon hikers and rescue workers trying to save a man’s life. Johnson would learn a day later that the man pulled from the water was Thomas.
Park ranger wanted to stop hike, according to account of trial
Johnson said in May that the hiking group of about 30 was too large for the path, and had been surprised by the number of people who actually showed up in the parking lot on May 7 after signing up as attendees online.
“It was too big,” Johnson said.
May told investigators the same thing during a tearful phone interview in mid-May, according to the Democrat-Gazette account of the trial:
In a telephone interview with investigators, the audio of which was played in court, Johnson said he advertised the hike on Facebook and too many people showed up wanting to go. Johnson said he normally limits the number to about 15, but Facebook didn't give him the option to limit the size as a website he previously used allowed him to do.
Johnson became emotional and wept during the telephone interview when he spoke of the hiker who died.
“I wish he had listened to me about how important it was [to stick together] and how dangerous it was,” Johnson could be heard saying on the recording.
Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Johnson had led a smaller group in the same area on May 1, and a woman injured her leg during the hike. A National Park Service ranger who responded to that injury testified that he asked Johnson to stop leading hiking groups in that area, according to the Democrat-Gazette.
The ranger, Daniel Romes, testified that he learned another hike was planned in the Indian Creek area on May 7, according to the Democrat-Gazette, and he went to the parking area listed as the meetup spot.
“I went there to stop the hike from happening,” he said in court, according to the Democrat-Gazette. The group was gone, he said, and he learned later that a hiker had been hurt.
According to the newspaper, Romes testified that he was one of 47 people to assist with the search and rescue effort.
