The Trump Administration has dropped the Criminal Charges against Charles and Heather Maude over a fenceline dispute with the US Forest Service. The Maude family raise cattle and hogs on their property in South Dakota and were alerted by the United States Forest service that fencing on their property blocked access to the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands. After agreeing to a survey of the property lines to address a boundary dispute, the Maude’s were charged separately with Theft of Government Property carrying up to $250,000 in fines and 10 years in prison.
US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said, “The Maudes are not criminals. They have worked their land since the early 1900’s and something that should have been a minor civil land dispute that was over and done with quickly turned into an overzealous criminal prosecution on a hardworking family that was close to losing their home, children, and livelihood.”
The Public Lands Council President and Colorado rancher Tim Canterbury said, “Charles and Heather Maude are public lands ranchers who for decades held a federal grazing permit and were permittees in good standing. As permittees, we are required to work collaboratively with the government, but when federal agencies view ranchers as the enemy, it threatens the trust that every single rancher has in their federal partners. The public outcry we saw on behalf of the Maudes goes to show that public lands ranchers everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief that the USDA under Secretary Rollins is no longer trying to slap handcuffs on hardworking farmers and ranchers.”