Have you noticed this post in your facebook feed in the last few hours?
Where Rep. Karla Lems is going on about the Charles & Heather Maude matter? It left me scratching my head wondering:
#1 – What exactly do state legislators think they are going to do in a federal matter? And
#2 – Where have they been for nearly the last year, while US Senator Mike Rounds has been working on this, communicating with the US Forest Service and introducing legislation?
In the article from August 28th, 2024:
The U.S. Forest Service is denying it overreacted by pursuing criminal charges against a South Dakota ranching couple rather than resolve a land dispute civilly.
and..
In an emailed response to questions about the case, however, the agency claims it originally notified the couple nearly four years ago that their plan to install an irrigation system would require trespassing onto the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands. “Subsequently, the Forest Service observed crops had been planted and an irrigation system installed on National Forest System land without authorization, despite the Maudes having been informed that they were trespassing,” the agency said.
Contrary to allegations the indictments disrupted civil proceedings, the agency claims that it’d only referred the case to the U.S. Department of Justice after it was “unable to resolve the matter through administrative means.” The referral was “normal protocol” under such circumstances and it was ultimately the DOJ that decided to bring criminal indictments against the Maudes, according to the Forest Service. “At no point during this contact was anyone placed under arrest or taken into custody, nor did any officer utilize any tactical uniform, gear or assault weapons,” the agency said.
and..
The indictments prompted U.S. Sen. Michael Rounds, R-S.D., to request additional information about the case from the USDA, which oversees the Forest Service. His letter to USDA says the Maudes were “abruptly” indicted after they’d “cooperated in good faith with USDA to resolve a recently identified boundary discrepancy” after decades of working with the agency. “The criminal indictment appears unnecessary and conflicts with USDA’s stated good neighbor practices,” Rounds said in the letter.
I’d also refer the publicity hungry legislators standing in a field to actual legislation that Rounds brought forth in December to address these kinds of federal land disputes..
“I won’t get into the specifics of that particular case, but I can tell you that other producers are also concerned about the possibility of facing the same type of aggression as the family in South Dakota already,” Rounds said. “We just want to get ahead of this.”
and..
Rounds introduced the Fence Line Fairness Act to try to mediate land disputes. This legislation would create a formal mediation process for land boundary disputes by forming a committee consisting of appointed producers from the state, two of whom would be appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and three of whom would be appointed by the state’s department of agriculture or natural resources.
“Rather than going directly into an aggressive move by the U.S. government, we think it’s more appropriate that we have the opportunity for the two sides to sit down and to reconcile their differences,” Rounds said.
The Maudes do have a court date at the end of the month, which is why I’m sure there’s the push for publicity in the matter.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, as I point out chunks of the Representative Lems’ post being utter bullshit, such as when she’s trying to claim that “this looks like lawfare,” there has been no due process, and that all of this just happened 6 weeks after a survey.
Despite the record of it being a matter that has drug out for 4 years administratively, BEFORE they moved it to a criminal matter, for these legislators to show up for a photo op and then try to claim that these representatives of state government are somehow able to do something in a federal land dispute being heard in federal court?
Well, I don’t know about you, but it just seems that these legislators are trying to mine publicity out of misery.
Misery arising out of a federal fence line dispute above their pay grade that’s drug on for years.
Anything, anywhere to get publicity.
Can we at least confirm the Maude’s won’t be getting deported to El Salvador? Both Karla and Mike are silent on that….
And can Brandie find El Salvador on a map?
Just a quick spellcheck. Handy rule of thumb: You can’t spell Brandei without remembering the DEI
Good one! She gets very upset if we spell her name wrong. lol
What was the matter with Ms. Brandei’s mama? It is almost criminal to burden a child with such a name after knowing how likely she was going to also be so dim.
I’m guessing Brandei comes by her low intelligence honestly and mama brandei is a bit dim as well
Didnt get due process? An indictment is literally the beginning of the process. What in god’s name is she talking about?
I’d add in 4 years of administrative process as well.
So let me get this straight. The Freedom Causus folks have been screaming about the government trampling over indivual property rights, but now they are totally fine with individuals stealing land from the federal government that belongs to tax payers?
This totally is NOT just tailor the approach to me. When the Fed benefits me, we are all on board, when it doesn’t, it should be abolished. Kind of like when I have kids in the school system, it should be the best, but when my kids graduate, we should abolish the schools. This is the way….
No due process for white people!
Outrageous! This is is a country of laws…oh wait.
#1 This whole deal stinks and appears to be a railroad job by the government.
#2 I’m sure there are two sides to the story, that we’ll soon find out.
#3 The state legislators are indeed, self promoting. They’re incredibly late to the party and lack any means other than to incite the mob and make social media posts.
#4 Rounds, say what you will, is our best representative/advocate on these types of issues. Good on Mike for being a real friend to ranchers and not just a talking head.
If he hadn’t voted yes on the Clown Car Cabinet, his overall record would be spotless.
I always get a good laugh at this group when they despise something because “it’s all about the money,” yet Lems is out there booking speaking engagements making money off things they dont like because of the money.
Justin McNeal is there with the cleanest suede cowboy boots I’ve ever seen west of the river.
Did he clip the price tag off those pants, or tuck it into the pocket so he can return them after the meeting?
How did he even get those boots inside the pant legs? LARPer.
Is the Amanda Radke network on this?
How about her sister and the new caucus freedumb to reside and represent wherever we want caucus?
Pipeline Gretta soon to be Fenceline Gretta.
The question I have, is the land own by the federal government or the Maude’s?
Seems pretty simple, if you do not own the land, don’t fence it. If it was by mistake, then move the fence. If the feds will sell it to you, then buy it.
It is basic property rights, whether it the feds, the state, or your neighbor. If you have gotten away with it for years, then you are one step ahead. If you were told to move it and didn’t, the you are actually trespassing, the same as the hunter that supposedly turned you in would be if he was on their land. .
But I do not see where it is ‘tragic”
(I’m being kind)
This group of legislators is beyond the pale.
Is that Julie Auch in the white shirt?
Lems only knows half the story. Wait til everything comes out. Many ranchers don’t like what the Maudes did but are staying quiet because they don’t want their cattle shot. They’re trying to make themselves out to be the Bundies or the Duttons but they ain’t.
Meanwhile they’re raising hundreds of thousands of dollars and get free publicity from the newspaper Mrs Maude works for.
Lems only ever knows half of the story, and she never wants to know the rest. Absolutely pathetic as a real legislator.
Something doesn’t seem right here. I’m fairly well versed in the West River ranching community. The ranchers I would suspect that would be jumping on the side of the Maudes ate all radio silent, crickets. This will be interesting when the full story comes out.