Tumalo Falls railing vandal gets $200 fine

The picture of a man and his two children, etching their names into a railing at Tumalo Falls, went viral months ago. Now the man has been identified through tips on Facebook as 57-year old Scott Duke of Bothell, Washington.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office investigated the case and fined Duke $200 for aiding and abetting the damage of a natural feature or property of the United States.

It all started on May 2, when Brett Nelson of Prineville was at Tumalo Falls and saw Duke’s children etching their names into the railing. Nelson asked him to tell them to stop and when he didn’t, Nelson took the now iconic picture.

“Estimated total amount shared was around 30 million times,” Nelson said Wednesday.

The story made headlines around the country and even in Europe.

“It’s a humbling experience, and it’s mind-boggling at the same time,” Nelson said.

Mark Ditzel, an officer with the U.S. Forest Service, was able to locate Duke and called him to interview him about what happened. According to the document obtained by NewsChannel 21, Duke repeatedly expressed his regret for having allowed the incident to occur.

Nelson said he is happy about the outcome.

“It’s never been about the rail, as minor as it was. It was about the demeanor, his character, what he was teaching his kids,” Nelson said.

Ditzel said it is far from the only case of vandalism in the area. On the railing he counted 130 different etchings.

“It’s not uncommon that we have vandalism on our sites or on the national forests,” said Kassidy Kern with the U.S. Forest Service. “What is uncommon is that it came to social media, and then it got literally national attention.”

Nelson remains in awe of the power of social media.

“My friends joke about it: ‘Oh, you’re going to take my picture and throw it on social media.’ Well, if you’re doing something that’s messed up, you betcha,” Nelson said.

Currently. the trailhead to Tumalo Falls remains closed due to city water project construction. City of Bend officials said they are hoping to be able to open it back up to hikers by the end of September.