Biden-Era Charges Against South Dakota Ranchers Over Legacy Fence Line Dropped

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration announced Wednesday it’s dropping federal charges the U.S. Forest Service was pursuing against fifth-generation ranchers in South Dakota — including a Wyoming native — over a fence that had been on their ranch for 75 years.

The ranchers, Charles and Heather Maude, faced 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine over a seemingly minor issue involving their property’s abutment with the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands.

Last summer, a Forest Service agent showed up at the Maudes’ home in full tactical gear to serve them indictments.

The dismissal of the Biden-era case against the ranchers was celebrated at a press conference in the nation’s capital Wednesday. It was attended by the Maude couple and their children, Republican U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, state and federal officials from South Dakota, members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet and others.

Leading the nearly one-hour press conference, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced an end to the case that alleged the theft of government property. 

She said the charges were misguided and had threatened to break up the Maude family that includes the couple’s 9-year-old daughter Kennedy and son Lyle, 11.

“This family, targeted over what should have been a minor civil dispute over grazing rights on 25 acres of public land, was prosecuted — credibly threatened with jail sentences so extreme that they were told to find alternatives to raise their young children,” said Rollins, whose department includes the U.S. Forest Service with jurisdiction over the Buffalo Gap Grasslands.

‘Heart And Soul Of Our Place’

Heather Maude, who grew up on a ranch in northern Niobrara County 56 miles from Lusk, Wyoming, spoke on behalf of the family.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Trump administration and all of these key players that have done so much, so quickly, relative to what we were facing before to get us where we are today,” she said.

She was mostly composed at the podium, but appeared to fight back tears momentarily as she reflected on the ordeal.

“When this hit, it hit at the heart and soul of our place that has been in Charles’ family since 1910,” she said.

400-Acre Ranch

The Maudes run a 400-acre cattle and sow ranch in Pennington County near Mount Rushmore, which predates the existence of the Buffalo Gap Grasslands. 

Rollins said the Maudes were operating under a decades-long “informal agreement” with USFS to allow livestock grazing on a 25-acre slice of the grasslands. 

Rollins said the family thought a routine survey was being conducted to clarify the property line, but instead were indicted in June 2024 for theft of government property.

Hageman said the actions of an “armed, rogue agent” with the USFS led to the charges over 25 acres the agency hadn’t missed for the prior 75 years and should have been given over to the ranch long ago anyway.

“That is not the way our government should be treating our citizens,” she told Cowboy State Daily after the press conference. “You don’t come in with guns a-blazing with two young people with two young children and say we’re going to give you 10 years in prison.”

Hageman was credited by Rollins and U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, for her efforts to get the case dropped. Addressing government overreach in general, especially in the West, is a cornerstone of Hageman’s agenda.

Johnson said of Hageman: “For a year, almost not a month has gone by where Harriet and I haven’t been talking about this because she has a passion — this has been her career work — making sure that the federal government does not overstep its bounds.”

Although the ranch is in South Dakota, Hageman said she felt compelled to intervene because federal overreach has to be challenged. If not, it could easily happen to a Wyoming ranching family next time.

“There is a cohort within these agencies that is pretty prosecutorial when it comes to the citizens of this country,” Hageman said. “I don’t know what the entire agenda on this one was, but it was not a good one.

“Heather is from Wyoming and her parents live in Wyoming, but this type of situation isn’t limited to South Dakota,” she added. “They can easily target people in Wyoming as they have in South Dakota.”

No More Making ‘Felons Out Of Farmers’

That it took intervention from members of Congress, cabinet members and all the way to the attention of the president shows how out of control this case was, Hageman said.

This has been “a clear example of the dangers of unelected bureaucrats with far too much power weaponizing the full force of the federal government against a small family operation that has been in place for generations.”

She said similar appeals for the Mauds to the Biden administration fell on deaf ears.

“The last four years brought the misuse of federal law enforcement powers against the American people,” Hageman said. “The Maudes experienced this, having an armed, rogue agent show up on their doorstep, never having been given any kind of indication that there was cause for concern. The agent had complete disregard for the decades-long relationship between the Maude family and the agency and used his role in an unconstitutional effort to make felons out of farmers.”

Hageman, Rollins and others pledged continued vigilance over what they called similar cases in the West brought by prosecutors under the Biden administration.

“Gone are the days of a government working against the people,” Hageman said. “Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump, and those individuals he’s surrounded himself with, like Secretary Rollins and Attorney General [Pam] Bondi, we now, once again, have a government of, by, and for the people.”

Sean Barry can be reached at sean@cowboystatedaily.com.