Four men face charges over images on social media showing them going off trail in fragile area of park, after earlier wake-boarding incident at Bonneville Salt Flats

Authorities in Yellowstone national park are urging a group of Canadian men accused of tramping off trail and dabbing in a delicate hot spring to turn themselves in, after images were posted on social media of their reported antics there and across a string of American “national treasures”.

Federal warrants have been issued in Wyoming for the arrest of the four friends, who market themselves under variations of their Vancouver-based clothing and entertainment brand High on Life.

The men were recorded on video last month striding out of bounds across the fragile, psychedelic landscape at the spectacular Grand Prismatic Spring in the heart of Yellowstone. Some of them could be seen dipping their hands in the large thermal pool.

The incident followed an earlier episode where they went wake-boarding behind their bright blue touring vehicle across the world famous Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah during the spring wet season.

Driving on the protected feature can cause permanent damage when it is saturated during winter and spring, and is banned until the expanse has dried and desiccated in the summer sun and can withstand vehicles, including the motor racing events that are legendary for setting speed records.

But the Bonneville and Yellowstone incidents were just the latest in a series of stunts that have garnered the men both fans and withering contempt online for, variously, allegedly swinging on a rope from Corona Arch in Utah, which is banned; going into prohibited areas at Machu Picchu in Peru; and climbing on the Holocaust memorial in Berlin.

While the group appears to have taken down some videos and photographs from their various webpages and social media accounts not long after posting them, some critics have taken screengrabs and reposted the images.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest High on Life wake-boarding at the Bonnevile Salt Flats in Utah. Photograph: SundayFundayz/Facebook

“We have been asking for them to turn themselves in, to contact the park and resolve this,” said Charissa Reid, a spokeswoman for Yellowstone. “With the privilege of access to this public land comes responsibility – these are the treasures of our nation.”

The US attorney’s office in Cheyenne, Wyoming, has issued warrants for the arrest of the four men.

The initial warrant listed Charles Ryker Gamble, Alexey Andriyovych Lyakh and Justis Cooper Price-Brown as wanted on two federal charges relating to creating a hazard and walking outside marked boardwalks and trails “in thermal areas” of the park.

The offenses are misdemeanors with maximum fines of $5,000 a person for each offense and the possibility of jail time, Reid said, adding that there may be other charges forthcoming.

A further, similar warrant was also issued for the fourth member of the group after his identity was established as Hamish McNab Campbell Cross, Reid said. The four go by variations of their full names on social media and also post online as High on Life SundayFundayz.

The group wrote an apology on Facebook for the Yellowstone incident. The apology points out that High on Life made a donation of $5,000 to the park and says they made a mistake that “doesn’t reflect our respect for the environment”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The group’s apology for going off trail in Yellowstone national park. Photograph: SundayFundayz/Facebook

Ryker Gamble, as he refers to himself, referenced the apology in a Facebook message to the Guardian.

“We as a group wrote a short message that we hope reflects our deep apologies,” he said. “Our first priority continues to be to work with both Yellowstone National Park and the authorities to get more information and figure out how we can best answer to our actions.”

Gamble has not responded to more detailed inquiries, including whether he and the group are now back in Canada, as Wyoming authorities suspect.

Yellowstone’s Reid said misdemeanors do not warrant extradition but if any of the men attempt to re-enter the US it is likely their passports will be flagged and they will be met by federal agents.

Reid said the incident with High on Life had caused further distress among park staff, after Yellowstone staff had recently been obliged to euthanize a baby bison that visitors put it in their vehicle because they thought it was cold.

“It’s our life’s work to keep this place safe and people safe. Until they [High on Life] come forward, an apology is pretty empty,” she said.

High on Life is idolized by many young followers on social media and the men post many pictures and videos of boisterous exuberance in settings that are completely law-abiding.

But one critic, Bryce Dodson, of Mammoth Lakes, California, said that after seeing the antics at Yellowstone and Bonneville online he was so angry he created a Facebook page called Stop High on Life.

There he has superimposed the words “Douchebag Express” on a picture of the group’s RV.

“When I was their age I used to go camping with friends and we would have a good time and then clear up every piece of trash and take every beer bottle and adhere to the ‘leave no trace’ credo. I take this personally,” he said.

Dodson called for the men to return to the US to appear in court.

In Utah, the Bureau of Land Management is investigating their suspected violation in March of rules governing the Bonneville Salt Flats, which the BLM oversees.

The flats, 90 miles west of Salt Lake City and formed millennia ago, have already been severely shrunk and thinned in the modern era by decades of potash mining, causing concern for many years.

“This area is of international importance and people come from all over the globe to see the salt flats,” said Kevin Oliver, west desert district manager for the BLM.

The vast, gleaming flats have been used for summer racing and speed records since 1914. And since the annual August Speed Week races across the salt flats have been cancelled for the past two years because of wet weather, enthusiasts are now worried about the extent of the damage to the already endangered area.

Louise Noeth, a spokesperson for Save the Salt, an advocacy group linked to the region’s racing community, said the group’s members were in an emergency meeting with the BLM to discuss the environmental damage to the flats at the same time that High on Life was apparently out driving a heavy RV across them, wake-boarding behind it wearing animal pattern onesies.

“It was just astonishing to see video of these knuckleheads and I think the damage is pretty bad,” said Noeth. “It broke my heart. It creates ruts and mud that can take decades to heal, if ever.”

Noeth said that 2016’s Speed Week races are currently scheduled to go ahead, but the racing community is waiting to assess any damage to the flats and to see if the summer weather holds up.

Dan Chu, a director at the Sierra Club, said that budget cuts for agencies such as the BLM and National Park Service were hindering efforts to protect areas from groups such as High on Life.

“A couple of seconds of selfishness can destroy places that have taken millions of years to develop as remarkable gifts of nature.”