Maude cases should be dismissed
This column appeared originally in Colorado Politics. Find me there each Monday.
Members of Congress are bringing the case brought by the Biden administration against a South Dakota ranching couple to President Trump’s attention and calling a federal agency onto the proverbial carpet.
Wyoming Congresswoman Harriet Hageman, Reps. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Bruce Westerman, R-Arkansas sent a letter to Alison Ramsdell, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota calling for a briefing about Charles and Heather Maude’s cases. It is scathing, to say the least.
You might recall that U.S. Forest Service Special Agent Travis Lunders showed up unannounced at the Maudes’ home on June 24, 2024, armed and in tactical gear, to serve the couple with separate federal indictments. The indictments were for the alleged theft of government property stemming from a fenceline dispute dating back over 75 years. The Maudes each face 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines over the 25 acres in question.
As I reported in The Fence Post Magazine, on March 29, 2024, Special Agent Lunders and U.S. Forest Service Patrol Captain Jeff Summers told the Maudes they had received a complaint from a hunter that a no trespassing sign was posted on a fence that wasn’t built upon the correct boundary. The Maudes removed the sign from the fence, which had been built sometime prior to the 1950s. The family has owned their property adjacent to the U.S. Forest Service-managed Buffalo Gap National Grasslands (BGNG) which is part of the Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands since 1910.
The fence, built sometime between 1910 and 1950, has been accepted as the property boundary by the USDA annually through the certification of acres by the USDA Farm Service Agency every year since the National Grasslands came into existence in 1960. Every year.
The Maudes met on May 1 with Special Agent Lunders and Julie Wheeler, USFS District Ranger. The conclusion reached that day was a land survey would be needed first and foremost and that would take time, up to a year according to Wheeler. The Maudes scheduled a meeting at the allotment so the District Ranger could see the fence and move toward a resolution. Five days later, Lunders again arrived – and traipsed across private property - with a survey crew to complete a survey the Maudes were not a party to. Neither a copy of the survey nor a copy of the original complaint allegedly issued by a hunter has been made available.
A portion of the letter reads: “We are concerned about the aftermath of the Biden-Harris Administration’s misuse of federal law-enforcement resources against American citizens.”
I should say so.
The severity of the charges the Maudes are facing is ludicrous. This dispute should have been handled through good faith efforts, which the Maudes, by all appearances, were participating in.
During my research of the Maude case, I ran across a group of volunteers who operate a Civilian Conservation Corp Museum who recall a run in with Lunders several years ago. An eagle-eyed scrap iron aficionado ran across a USFS marker of some sort related to the South Dakota CCC Camp in the area and purchased it from the scrapper. He built a frame for the marker and donated it to the museum for their collection.
As the story goes, Lunders got wind of the museum’s blatant theft of government property, marched past the little old ladies at the door, and removed the marker and frame from the wall, reclaiming the stolen government property. His superior apologized for his actions to the ladies who volunteer at the museum and work to honor the contributions of those who worked in CCC camps. Thank goodness Lunders nabbed the bad guys that time. How embarrassing.
Though I’ve not been able to confirm the rumor despite multiple calls and emails, it appears Lunders is now working in a Colorado USFS office. Super.
Lunders’ misuse of government power, aggressive tactics, and behavior has inspired multiple pieces of legislation, notably the Fenceline Fairness Act, introduced by Sen. Mike Rounds (R- SD) in December 2024. This bill seeks to create a formal mediation process for land boundary disputes between landowners and the USFS. I might add, the Small Tract Act is designed for a situation like Maude’s where a small number of deeded acres are in question.
Hageman introduced the Protecting Agricultural Spaces Through Effective Ranching Strategies (PASTURES) Act to safeguard landowners with property adjacent to federally leased land from federal enforcement actions related to livestock trespassing.
The Maude’s cases are scheduled for jury trial on April 29 in federal district court in Rapid City barring updates or a dismissal. A dismissal, of course, followed by an apology is the only resolution that is acceptable in this case.