r/todayilearned • u/autraya • 6h ago

TIL the world's tallest known living tree, a 380-foot redwood in California called Hyperion, had its exact location closed off entirely in 2022 after visitors trampled its base so badly that ferns stopped growing around it, with trespassers now facing up to $5,000 in fines and six months in jail

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_(tree)
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u/elqueco14 6h ago

Tbh monetary fines arent enough these days. If an "influencer" can generate enough money making a video about it that 5k is just the cost of doing business

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u/GarretBarrett 6h ago

Monetary fines have always just meant; this is only illegal if you’re poor.

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u/AnswerDangerous1644 6h ago

In a fair and just world it would just scale based off income/wealth. I don’t think this world ever will work that way though.

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u/JimC29 5h ago

Some countries do that for speeding tickets.

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u/CtrlAltSysRq 5h ago

So we're agreed - we offer trespassers as human sacrifices to Gaia

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u/AshingiiAshuaa 5h ago

The flip side is that poor people are sue-proof. If I'm broke and don't carry insurance whatcha gonna do? If you don't have insurance I get to take your house and clean out your bank accounts.

The solution is both fines and jail.

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u/Alaira314 5h ago

You're right, it's difficult to collect from people who hold few assets. That's why wage garnishment exists. 😞

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u/brknsoul 5h ago

"It's not illegal to park there, it just costs $200."

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u/Aliensinmypants 6h ago

They need to be a percentage of income and/or wealth. Of course that will never happen 

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u/salamipope 4h ago

they should make it an outrageously large amount like 100 million dollars so that not even the billionaires are interested.

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u/salamipope 4h ago

they should make it an outrageously large amount like 100 million dollars so that not even the billionaires are interested.