CAPUTA, S.D. – Cattle and grazing organizations and members of Congress are weighing in on a legal case involving a long-time ranch family.
A grand jury indicted South Dakota ranchers Charles and Heather Maude of Caputa, South Dakota for theft of government property. If found guilty, the couple faces thousands of dollars in fines or imprisonment of up to 10 years.
Leaders of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Public Lands Council were not happy about the indictment of Charles and Heather Maude, family ranchers in western South Dakota. The Maude family operates a diversified ranch raising cattle, hogs, and crops.
“I’m deeply disgusted by the Forest Service’s persecution of Charles and Heather,” says NCBA President Mark Eisele. On June 20, 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Dakota indicted them on charges of theft of government property related to a small piece of Forest Service land surrounded by the Maude’s private land. The family has stewarded that government land for generations.
“The Forest Service’s deference to the heavy-handed special agent with a long history of abusing permittees is unconscionable,” says NCBA V.P. of Government Affairs Ethan Lane. The groups say the Forest Service has a long and shameful history of confronting ranchers in South Dakota, and their escalation to imprisonment over a century-old fence line has shaken the confidence of every permittee.
“The Maude family are public lands permittees in good standing, and they have always been the first to step forward as constructive partners in federal land management,” says PLC President Mark Roeber, a public lands grazing permittee. “This case is a prime example of what can happen when federal agencies view ranchers as enemies, rather than partners. 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.”
“As active partners with federal agencies, public lands ranchers rely on open, transparent communication with the government. In this case, the U.S. Forest Service apparently decided to abandon decades of collaborative partnership with the Maude family, threatening their family, their ranch, and their land,” says PLC Executive Director Kaitlynn Glover. “This kind of law enforcement behavior should never have been allowed to result in criminal charges. PLC is committed to a resolution to this situation that protects the Maude family and ensures the Forest Service is a good partner to ranchers, not a looming threat over every range management decision.”
R-CALF USA Property Rights Committee Chairman Shad Sullivan and President Brett Kenzy made a joint statement in a letter to Secretary Vilsack.
“Secretary Vilsack, the Maude family are generational community members and upstanding citizens focused on land stewardship and food production. We encourage the USDA, USFS and the DOJ to effectively communicate with the Maude family to find a common-sense solution to what has become a nation-wide issue. We urge your agencies to restrain from overreach and from exercising abusive power in their duties. I respectfully ask that you immediately drop all charges against Charles and Heather Maude.”
The R-CALF letter also expressed concern over the USFS “lack of common sense regarding the fact that dated and primitive survey boundaries are often imperfect,” and “the lack of communication by USFS employees after Mrs. Maude politely requested to be personally informed when USFS employees cross onto their private property when navigating to the Maude-owned allotment….and the manner in which each individual received personal indictments, unannounced by armed USFS Special Agent Travis Lunders, seems incredibly nefarious and retaliatory.”
U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D in a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said the Maudes had been working with the USDA to resolve a recently identified boundary discrepancy but were abruptly charged with criminal actions at the end of June.
In his July 7, 2024, letter Rounds wrote, “I am concerned about how and why this case escalated to a criminal matter, as well as the process USDA and USFS personnel utilized in interacting with Mr. and Mrs. Maude. I seek to bring this matter to your direct attention and to better understand the chronology and methodology that has transpired… I request your involvement and review of this issue, which seems to be an overzealous prosecution of a ranching family in my state. I trust with further understanding of the facts involved, commonsense should prevail.”
The indictment hearing was July 8, 2024. The Maudes await to learn what evidence the U.S. Forest Service used to indict them.
The Maude Family was forced to retain separate counsel which has doubled their legal expenses in this case.
In a recent social media post, Heather Maude stated, “We have retained attorneys, and have been advised to wait until evidence is released to speak about it. We have been waiting for evidence for almost a month longer than anticipated.”
She continued, “What we are facing is unprecedented – this is a civil issue with resolution methods in place that we were actively seeking at the time we were indicted. Criminally charging a husband and wife in this type of situation has not happened before.”
There is a GoFundMe account dedicated to the family to help offset legal costs. Friends of the Maude family have also opened an account at First Interstate Bank for those wishing to help with the family’s legal expenses.
