I am afraid the idea of fining folks who make mistakes in the outdoors is a slippery slope (no pun intended) that we may regret going down. Obviously the Camels Hump group made some poor decisions, but were those decisions based on inexperience, ignorance or a total lack of concern about the consequences. People on this forum obviously have a greater understanding of the problems that can arise in the outdoors, but the general public is not as knowledgeable nor are they likely to become more knowledgeable if they are afraid of getting some horrendous fine for making a mistake. What's next imprisonment if the mistake is horrendous enough in the eyes of "officials?" Rather than encouraging the public to become better informed about the outdoors, I think fines and other punishments will have the opposite effect. Many simply won't bother with camping, hiking, or other outdoor activities because of the risk of punishment if something goes wrong.