Badlands nightmare ends for ranching couple Charles and Heather Maude
By
Bonner Cohen, Ph. D.
|
May 3rd, 2025
Putting an end to what Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins calls a “politically motivated witch hunt,” the Trump administration dropped criminal charges against a South Dakota ranching and farming couple whom the Biden-era U.S. Forest Service accused of perpetrating the “theft” of federal land.
Charles and Heather Maude, whose fourth-generation cattle ranch and hog farm sit on the edge of South Dakota’s Badlands, were set to go on trial on July 25 over a routine property line dispute with the Forest Service. The couple were charged separately, facing up to 10 years in prison and fines up to $250,000 apiece, requiring the husband and wife to retain separate counsel.
U.S. Attorney Alison Ramsdell, a Biden appointee, brought the charges.
The couple’s ordeal began on March 29, 2024, when the U.S. Forest Service notified them that a hunter had complained about a “No Trespassing” sign on a section of the fence separating their ranch from the Buffalo Gap National Grassland, which the Forest Service administers. The hunter allegedly said the Maudes’ fence blocked his access to the federal land.
Complying with the Forest Service’s request, the Maudes removed the sign the next day.
https://www.cfact.org/2025/05/03/badlands-nightmare-ends-for-ranching-couple-charles-and-heather-maude/
