Officials warn of dangers at Teton Dam site

Trespassing and vandalism around the former Teton Dam has become a huge problem in recent years. Officials are warning people about the hazards of the area.

“The last two to three years the nature of the damage and the frequency of the damage has increased incredibly,” said Ryan Newman, Upper Snake Field Office Manager for the Bureau of Reclamation.

The area has now become a popular hang out spot for troublemakers. The Bureau of Reclamation wants them to leave.

“This is federal property, it’s private property, and it’s dangerous property,” Newman said. “And it’s not a playground. And so we don’t want people coming out here and playing in the tunnels and playing on the structures and defacing it like they’re doing.”

The area is littered with bullet cartridges, nails and even broken plates. Officials say they cover the graffiti, but it will be spray painted again just a few days later. Any signage put up telling people to keep out is either covered up or shot at after just a few weeks.

They aren’t just worried about the appearance of the structures, but also for the lives of those hanging around them.

“You could have different gasses that could naturally accumulate, that could settle, that could displace oxygen,” Newman said. “Or you could have situations where there’s substantial spray painting going on down in these tunnels and there’s a whole variety of gas facilitated with the discharge of spray paint and those gases have no where to go, there’s no ventilation system. And so, with that confined space, individuals entering that run the risk of severe injury, even death.”

The Bureau of Reclamation is working with local law enforcement agencies to prevent further trespassing and damage. They say it would be too expensive to just demolish the property. One option for making it a better area is turning part of the canyon into a recreation area.

“Overtime as we can get more recreation infrastructure built, you know boat ramps put in, some better access to a couple of these locations,” Newman said. “We think that we can help displace some of the folks as well who are looking to be up to no good.”

The Bureau of Reclamation encourages people to follow the “see something, say something” rule. If you see or know of someone trespassing and vandalizing the Teton Dam area, call them at 1-888-748-7220. They do still encourage tourists to go check out the Teton Dam overlook area.