From the sounds of things, ranchers and the federal government are getting into a feud in South Dakota. This comes after a South Dakota couple faces jail time over an old fence.
Both are facing up to 10 years in prison. This comes after an armed federal agent showed up at their door in full tactical gear. According to Cowboy State Daily, the incident happened on June 24. Charles and Heather Maude are facing a hefty sentence over alleged theft of government property.
"It's is stressful, financially and mentally," Charles told the outlet. "It's something nobody should have to go through." They also face a $250,000 find. The federal government claims the couple put up a fence on a federal grassland. However, the South Dakota couple says the fence is old.
"The Forest Service has long said they want to be good neighbors, and taking shots at easy targets isn't being good neighbors," Rachel Gabel, assistant editor of The Fence Post, told the outlet. She said the government went from "zero to 120mph in 87 days."
The incident stretches back to March 29. A hunter complained a "no hunting" sign on a post that marks the government's property. They ordered the South Dakota couple to remove it. Fast forward a month later, Forest Service District Ranger, Julie Wheeler, told the couple that the land needed to be surveyed. This was to determine the property boundaries between the couple's estate and the government's.
South Dakota Couple In Serious Trouble
Following the survey, the federal agent showed up at their door with indictments. The government is charging them over an old fence built in 1950. However, the Maude family reportedly had an agreement with USFS for 60 years. The government acknowledged the fence each time. The fence predates everything.
Senator Mike Rounds wrote a letter to US Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack about the matter.
"This action represents a direct conflict to an agreed-upon plan, wherein the landowners were working cooperatively with the USFS to resolve the issue," he told him, according to Western Livestock Journal (WLJ). "The criminal indictment appears unnecessary and conflicts with USDA's stated good neighbor practices with regard to land management practice."
The Senator calls the Forest Service's actions an "overzealous prosecution of a ranching family in my state."
"This case is a prime example of what can happen when federal agencies view ranchers as enemies, rather than partners," PLC President Mark Roeber said, according to WLJ. "I urge the U.S. Forest Service to rethink their plan to slap handcuffs on these hardworking ranchers and instead pursue an alternative resolution to this issue."
