A man has been sentenced after illegally guiding hiking groups on unofficial trails within the Buffalo National River.
According to the National Park Service, on two separate occasions in the spring of 2022, Jeffrey Johnson led a group of hikers on a rugged and remote unofficial trail. One of the hikes ended in a carryout of an injured hiker and another hike on May 7, 2022 ended in the death of a hiker in Johnson’s group.
Johnson was found to be operating a guided hiking service through Meetup.com to gather people with similar outdoor interests. Johnson was found to be soliciting donations and charging an annual membership fee for users of the group, which would allow the member to join as many hikes led by Johnson for the year the member wished. Johnson advertised hikers could make the payment by check, Paypal or in person on the morning of their first hike.
After investigating, officials found Johnson never applied for, nor received, a permit to operate a business within the park.
On Dec. 6, 2022, Johnson was convicted on one count of engaging in or soliciting business inside a national park with out a permit and one count of soliciting money inside a national park without a permit.
On March 7, 2023, Johnson was sentenced to two years probation, a two year ban from the Buffalo National River, $600 in fines, $80 in processing fees and ordered to pay $2,686 in restitution. The amount of restitution equals the cost of both search and rescue operations performed for members of his hiking groups by the National Park Service in 2022.
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