After dropping charges over a land dispute against a South Dakota family, lawmakers and the Trump Administration are vowing changes to prevent more instances.
“This needs to stop,” said U.S. Senator Mike Rounds on the steps of the USDA Whitten Building in Washington DC. He’s referring to government overreach and what he calls the unfair treatment of ranchers and farmers by the federal government.
In this case, he’s referring to the Maude family, a family of 5th generation farmers on a cattle, sow and row crop West River ranch. So, when Charles and Heather Maude found out about the charges, she said it hit the family hard.
“It hit at the heart and soul of our place that has been in Charles’ family since 1910. They came to the area in 1907 and purchased the adjoining property in 1910 and have managed it without issue and with great care since,” Heather Maude said. “And when this unnecessary grievance came to our family, we knew that we were innocent of any wrongdoing, and we sought to find a resolution and that was not forthcoming from the other side.”
The Maudes faced 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine over a land dispute with the U.S. Forest Service claiming they stole 50 acres of federal land. Many said the “common sense” solution would have been to resolve the dispute over a conversation rather than the courts.
Some preventative measures are already in the works. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said the Administration is looking into similar cases to find resolutions. That includes launching a portal for farmers to submit similar claims. Rounds said he is bringing forward a bill that creates a formal mediation process for land boundary disputes.
State Rep. Liz May previously criticized both Gov. Larry Rhoden and former Gov. Kristi Noem saying they “let the Maude case collect dust on the shelf.” That day 17 legislators met at the Maude property to discuss possible solutions.
Rhoden said he and Noem have been working behind the scenes for a while now.
“So when the Maude situation came up over a year ago, we went to work. We did our work quietly so we could be affective. Gov. Noem asked Secretary Vilsack to back off, and we never publicized that,” Rhoden said. It wasn’t about picking a fight with the Biden Administration, and it wasn’t about chasing headlines. It was about delivering real results for Charles and Heather Maude. And unfortunately, Secretary Vilsack and President Biden ignored our pleas. But that all changed in November.”
He said when he met with USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins in DC earlier this year talks began to pick up steam towards finding a resolution.
