Sasquatch hunter fined for Arkansas expedition
That includes expeditions to find Bigfoot.
That was the message two National Park Service rangers had for Matt Pruitt when they found him and 31 other Sasquatch seekers at the Steel Creek campground near Ponca on Feb. 24.
Pruitt explained that he was leading an expedition for The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, which has 24 other expeditions planned this year in the United States and Canada.
The participants in Pruitt’s Arkansas expedition had paid between $300 and $500 apiece to search for Sasquatch, according to a National Park Service incident report from Chief Ranger Karen Bradford. That basically made Pruitt a “concessionaire,” similar to those who rent canoes or operate other businesses in the park, Bradford said.
The rangers, Billy Bell and Ben Henthorne, cited Pruitt for “engaging in a business without a permit or written agreement,” the report stated.
Pruitt said he paid the $525 fine online Friday.
“I think it was a fairly innocent mistake,” he said. “At first they were very concerned that we were filming, that we were trying to get away with commercial filming without a permit. Once those concerns were satiated, there were other concerns.”
Matt Moneymaker, founder and director of The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, has a show on the Animal Planet television network called “Finding Bigfoot.” But none of the cast from the show participated in the Arkansas expedition, and no video cameras were taken on the expedition, Pruitt said.
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