Government, as George Washington pointed out, is like fire — a dangerous servant and a fearful master. That pearl of wisdom from two and a half centuries ago is certainly not lost on Charles and Heather Maude, a farming and ranching couple working long-held family land in western South Dakota, who are now suffering under an indictment from the Department of Agriculture over their use of land to which the Maudes have long held a grazing allotment.

Charles and Heather Maude, a western South Dakota farm and ranch couple, have been indicted for theft of federal property. The summons, served June 24, 2024, charged that the Maudes, “Beginning at a time unknown, but no later than December, 2020…did knowingly steal, purloin and convert to their own use National Grasslands managed by the United States Department of Agriculture, a department and agency of the United States, namely, approximately, 25 acres of National Grasslands for cultivation and approximately 25 acres of National Grasslands for grazing cattle, having a value in excess of $1,000 and did aid and abet each other, all in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 641 and 2.”

The summons, signed by Alison J. Ramsdell, United States Attorney, charges them separately, which means they must retain two attorneys and they could each be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and fined up to $250,000.

At issue is a property boundary between the Maudes and the U.S. Forest Service. The fence in question and the management practices the USFS is alleging are “theft” have been in place for generations.

Seriously, could no one have sat down with the Maudes, informed them of however it was they were misusing land to which the family had held a grazing allotment for generations, and tried to work something out without immediately and capriciously resorting to criminal charges? The Maudes do, after all, have a long history with the land in question. They have grazed cattle and, apparently, made hay on the land, which doesn't seem unreasonable.

A member of the Maude family has held a U. S. Forest Service National Grasslands grazing allotment in good standing since the inception of that agency, he said.

“This is just crazy,” said Edoff, who is also a past-president of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association and past-president of the state Public Lands Council organization.

Edoff said Charles and Heather Maude own the land on three sides of the property in question and that the Cheyenne River is the fourth boundary of the two lots in question. Part of Maudes’ property bordering the southern lot in question has been fenced in and managed by the USFS for decades, he said.

“Charles’ great grandfather had an irrigation ditch for about a mile crossing that property. They allowed him to put that ditch in and irrigate that bottom,” said Edoff.

This sure sounds a lot like a bureaucrat new to the job and anxious to make a name for him/herself, although there's no evidence of this. But there can be little doubt that somewhere, somehow, the bureaucracy is involved in all this.

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What's more, a South Dakota state senator is involved and has provided a pithy timeline of events around the Maudes' use of the land in question. 

South Dakota Senator Rounds, in a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, outlines a timeline of events since Lunders first contacted the Maudes.

Rounds said the following is his understanding of the Maudes’ interaction with the USFS:

• March 29, 2024 – The Maudes were notified of a complaint received by USDA saying a fence between their property and adjacent Buffalo Gap National Grasslands property blocked access to Buffalo Gap National Grasslands.
• May 1, 2024 – The Maudes met with USFS District Ranger Julie Wheeler to discuss a boundary discrepancy regarding the fenceline. USFS special agent Travis Lunders was also present. The USFS and Maudes agreed a survery should be completed, which could take up to a year, but following the survey completion there were three possible administrative steps that could be taken.
• May 6, 2024 – Special Agent Lunders escorted a crew to perform a survey of the land. The Maudes did not participate in the survey and have not received survey results.
• June 24, 2024 – The Maudes were summoned to appear in U.S. District Court, having been indicted for theft of government property.

“This action represents a direct conflict to an agreed upon plan, wherein the landowners were working cooperatively with the USFS to resolve the issue,” said the Rounds letter.

In summary: The Maudes had every reason to believe that there was some misunderstanding, that the use they had made of the land to which the family had held a grazing allotment for generations was still acceptable, and that, following the survey in question, some accommodation would be worked out. That is what any reasonable person would expect — but we are dealing with the government, that dangerous servant and fearful master. The Maudes certainly thought some accommodation possible — right up until they were hit with the summons.

And theft of government property? Seriously? One would think this would rate, at most, a trespassing charge.

George Washington knew of which he spoke, having spent his younger years under the autocratic rule of a king. And now we Americans, having 250 years ago cast off the yoke of royals and nobles, face a different kind of government oppression, that of an endless, powerful bureaucracy. The problem with the bureaucracy in question is that they are also faceless, a cadre of unknowns, and they are only marginally responsive to changes in political leadership.

There are many reasons and many good arguments for reducing — dramatically — the scale and scope of the federal government. The case of the Maudes is just one more.

We will continue to follow this case and bring you updates as events warrant.