Cody J. Cyson, Thomas L. Brown, Hanna F. Ponder, Idaho 2018

Cody J. Cyson of Minnetonka, Minnesota and Thomas L. Brown of East Hardwick, Vermont entered guilty pleas Wednesday at the Yellowstone Justice Center in Mammoth, Wyoming, admitting to entering a closed area in Yellowstone National Park and interfering with an agency function — charges stemming from a March 6, 2018 confrontation involving bison management operations. The pair showed no resistance as the charges were read, but their actions had already set off alarms across federal land enforcement circles.

Both Cyson and Brown were sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark L. Carman to six days in jail with credit for time served, $250 fines for entering a closed area, and another $250 fine for interference with an agency function. They each must pay $500 in community service fees and $50 in special assessment. Additionally, both men are banned from entering Yellowstone National Park for five years and will serve five years of unsupervised probation — a penalty meant to deter future civil disobedience on federal grounds.

Hanna F. Ponder of Donnelly, Idaho, also pleaded guilty to a single charge of entering a closed area in the Reese Creek drainage, part of the park’s designated bison closure zone. Like the others, she was sentenced to six days in jail with credit for time served. Ponder received a steeper $500 fine, a $500 community service payment, $40 in special assessment, and faces the same five-year park ban and five years of unsupervised probation.

The charges against all three originated from the same incident on March 6, 2018, when protestors attempted to disrupt wildlife management activities near Reese Creek. Park officials reported that the intrusions compromised safety protocols and delayed federal operations aimed at monitoring and managing bison populations — a critical function during seasonal migration periods.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark L. Carman made no exceptions in sentencing, stating that while dissent is protected, trespassing on restricted federal land and impeding official duties crosses a clear legal line. “This wasn’t protest — it was obstruction,” Carman said from the bench. “The law doesn’t reward defiance cloaked as activism when it endangers personnel and halts federal operations.”

With Yellowstone under increasing pressure from environmental activists and land-use advocates, the case sets a firm precedent: federal closures are enforced, not negotiated. Cyson, Brown, and Ponder now carry criminal records for their actions — a costly reminder that even symbolic stands come with real consequences in America’s most protected wilderness.

RELATED: Yellowstone Buffalo Blockade: Activists Face Federal Charges

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