A Big Win: Trump administration drops criminal charges against South Dakota ranchers in fence line dispute
In the summer of 2024, South Dakota Ranchers Charles and Heather Maude were alerted by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) that fencing on their property blocked access to the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands.
In good faith, the family consented to having a survey conducted, but on June 20, 2024, armed federal agents served the Maudes with federal summons, charging both Charles and Heather separately, which required them to each retain their own attorney and subjected them to penalties of up to 10 years in prison and fines up to $250,000.
USFS indicted the couple for theft of government property, saying they “knowingly stole, purloined and converted 50 acres of national grassland from the federal government.” However, the small parcel in question, which is surrounded by the Maudes’ private property, had been managed the same way since the early 1900s.
After a little less than a year of fighting USFS’s claims in court, the Trump administration announced they would be dropping criminal charges against the Maudes on April 28.
“The Maudes are not criminals. They have worked their land since the early 1900s and something that should have been a minor civil land dispute quickly turned into an overzealous criminal prosecution on a hardworking family that was close to losing their home, children and livelihood. Not in this America, not under President Trump,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins states in an April 30 press release.
“A politically-motivated witch hunt was launched against the Maude family over a fence line and planting dispute with a small family farm which has cultivated land near federal grasslands since the early 1900s,” she continues. “Dropping these charges against the Maude family is not only just, it affirms the America First mandate which was sent to Washington, D.C. when Trump was overwhelmingly elected and sworn into office just 100 days ago.”
Rollins adds, “This case, and the many others currently under review, shows this administration is fully committed to ending government regulation by prosecution. President Trump will never stop fighting for farmers and ranchers like the Maude family.”
Attorney General Pamela Bondi also comments, “The prior administration’s misguided agenda must be reversed in order to make America safe again. The Department of Justice will spend our resources and efforts on prosecuting criminals, getting drugs off of the streets and identifying and dismantling the weaponization.”
Press conference
Following the announcement, Rollins, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and other members of Congress hosted the Maude family at U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) headquarters on April 30.
“I’m so grateful to the Maude family for their strength. I’m so disgusted the Biden administration would do this – persecute a family and threaten to take their children away from them just because they wanted to be political,” said Noem during the conference. “South Dakota’s motto has always been ‘under God, the people rule.’ The power was given in our Constitution to the people. We should always respect this and recognize many of the wrongs done under the last administration can be fixed and are being fixed every single day because of leaders like Rollins and President Trump. He’s bold, he’s fearless and he’s taking action.”
South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden, Sens. Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Reps. Dusty Johnson (R-CO) and Harriet Hageman (R-WY) took to the stand to express their gratitude for USDA’s announcement as well.
“The political prosecutions during the Biden administration weren’t just focused on destroying President Trump – they also went after hardworking ranchers trying to run a small family operation,” said Lummis. “As a rancher, and someone with commonsense, I’m grateful Rollins, Bondi and President Trump have ended the injustice perpetrated against the Maude family – a family with strong Wyoming roots. Government resources should be directed toward prosecuting actual criminals rather than generational farmers and ranchers.”
Hageman stated, “Gone are the days of a government working against the people. Under the leadership of President Trump and his administration, we now – once again – have a government of, by and for the people. The case against the Maudes is a glaring example of the dangers of unelected bureaucrats with far too much power weaponizing the full force of the federal government in an unconstitutional effort to make felons out of farmers.”
“Sadly, this type of behavior was commonplace during the past four years, but President Trump knows firsthand the catastrophic implications of lawfare imposed by an overreaching government and the dismissal of this case shows ‘business as usual’ is no more,” Hageman continued.
Additionally, Rollins rolled out a new web portal where victims of ongoing lawfare originating under the Biden administration can report any wrongdoing they have experienced. The program is available at usda.gov/lawfare.
“President Trump is directing his cabinet to ensure no citizen of this country is unfairly targeted on politically-motivated witch hunts. This is what happened to the Maudes, and I am working to ensure no farmer, rancher or customer who works with USDA will ever endure baseless political persecution,” said Rollins
“We are excited to announce USDA is launching a portal for all American farmers, ranchers and producers who are subject to the similar egregious lawfare from the Biden administration,” she added. “We will work with our counterparts and others across the Trump administration to address any other government overreach in situations like this.”
Widespread appreciation
USDA’s announcement has been welcome news for the nation’s ag industry.
Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation (WyFB) President Todd Fornstrom, who previously penned a letter to Rollins in support of the Maudes, expressed how pleased he is with the precedence the case will set for other ranching families fighting similar battles.
In an April 30 WyFB press release, Fornstrom states, “It’s critical for agencies to work with long-time permittees to resolve conflicts without dragging them into the judicial system. There needs to be clear, efficient and appropriate avenues to remedy situations like this.”
“WyFB policy opposes the abuse of power and overreach of any enforcement or investigative department of any U.S. Executive Branch Agency, including USFS,” he adds. “WyFB also supports strict consequence of permanent ban of federal employment of any individual found guilty of abusing power and to be held responsible for any financial cost incurred.”
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and Public Lands Council (PLC) have also been involved with the case since the Maudes first faced legal charges and note support from grassroots industry leaders was crucial to achieving this victory.
“No family farmer or rancher should have to go through what the Maude family did,” says NCBA President and Nebraska Rancher Buck Wehrbein. “The targeted prosecution of the Maude family was way out of line for USFS and was a clear example of government overreach which had direct, catastrophic impacts for a hardworking fifth-generation ranching family.”
“The Maudes are public lands ranchers who for decades held a federal grazing permit and were permittees in good standing,” says PLC President and Colorado Rancher Tim Canterbury. “As permittees, we are required to work collaboratively with the government, but when federal agencies view ranchers as the enemy, it threatens the trust every single rancher has in their federal partners.”
“The public outcry we saw on behalf of the Maudes goes to show public lands ranchers everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief that the USDA, under Rollins, is no longer trying to slap handcuffs on hardworking farmers and ranchers,” Canterbury continues.
“This case was an unfortunate example of the imbalance of power between family ranchers and a formidable federal government. Put simply, the Maude family was expected to bear the burden of an inefficient and unfair USFS process, and their story had a chilling effect on ranchers’ trust in federal land management agencies they interact with daily,” adds Executive Director of PLC and NCBA Natural Resources Kaitlynn Glover. “Both NCBA and PLC are pleased our months-long campaign to find a good solution for the Maude family has finally become a reality.”
Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
