US cattle leaders disgusted with targeted persecution of ranchers – NCBA
Charles and Heather Maude indicted for allegedly stealing 50 acres of government land
Leaders of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and Public Lands Council (PLC) issued statements in response to news of the indictment of Charles and Heather Maude, multi-generational family ranchers in western South Dakota, by US Forest Service law enforcement officers and the US Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota:
“I am deeply disgusted by the Forest Service’s persecution of family ranchers Charles and Heather Maude,” said NCBA President and rancher Mark Eisele. “The Maude family has been ranching in South Dakota for five generations and Charles and Heather have spent their lives protecting natural resources, investing in their land, and raising their children. The US Forest Service and US Attorney’s Office have maliciously targeted and prosecuted these family ranchers, and it’s clear that if this can happen in South Dakota, government overreach can happen anywhere.”
“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,” said 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 US Forest Service to rethink their plan to slap handcuffs on these hardworking ranchers and instead pursue an alternative resolution to this issue.”
“The Forest Service’s actions in this case—especially the deference they’ve given to a heavy-handed special agent with a long history of abusing permittees—is absolutely unconscionable,” said NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane. “NCBA is actively engaged with Congress to address this situation and find an outcome that protects this family. The Forest Service has a long, shameful history of creating confrontation with ranchers in South Dakota, and their escalation to imprisonment over a century-old fence line has shaken the confidence of permittees nationwide. Secretary Vilsack and the White House must engage now to get control of the Forest Service and the Department of Justice.”
“As active partners with federal agencies, public lands ranchers rely on open, transparent communication with the government. In this case, the US Forest Service apparently decided to abandon decades of collaborative partnership with the Maude family, threatening their family, their ranch, and their land,” said PLC Executive Director Kaitlynn Glover. “This kind of law enforcement behaviour 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.”
On June 20, 2024, a grand jury indicted Charles and Heather Maude for theft of government property. The indictment states that the crime the Maudes committed is that of knowingly stealing 50 acres of National Grasslands managed by the USDA. A recent article by Ariana Schumacher in AgWeek outlines the case in further detail.