Charles and Heather Maude operate a diversified ranch in western South Dakota raising cattle, hogs, and crops. On June 20, 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota indicted the Maudes on charges of theft of government property related to a small piece of Forest Service land surrounded by the Maude’s private land—land the Maude family has stewarded for generations.

Leaders of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and Public Lands Council (PLC) are speaking out, saying the Forest Service law enforcement officer who targeted the Maudes and the U.S. Attorney’s Office have both acted far beyond their scope in pursuing the Maudes.

“I am deeply disgusted by the Forest Service’s persecution of family ranchers Charles and Heather Maude,” said NCBA President and rancher Mark Eisele. “The Maude family has been ranching in South Dakota for five generations, and Charles and Heather have spent their lives protecting natural resources, investing in their land, and raising their children. The U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Attorney’s Office have maliciously targeted and prosecuted these family ranchers, and it’s clear that if this can happen in South Dakota, government overreach can happen anywhere."

PLC President Mark Roeber, a public lands grazing permittee, said the Maude family are public lands permittees in good standing and have always been the first to step forward as constructive partners in federal land management. “This case is a prime example of what can happen when federal agencies view ranchers as enemies, rather than partners. I urge the U.S. Forest Service to rethink their plan to slap handcuffs on these hardworking ranchers and instead pursue an alternative resolution to this issue.”

NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane, who called the Forest Service’s actions “absolutely unconscionable,” said NCBA is actively engaged with Congress to address the situation and find an outcome that protects the family.

“The Forest Service has a long, shameful history of creating confrontation with ranchers in South Dakota, and their escalation to imprisonment over a century-old fence line has shaken the confidence of permittees nationwide. Secretary Vilsack and the White House must engage now to get control of the Forest Service and the Department of Justice,” Lane said.

PLC Executive Director Kaitlynn Glover commented: “This kind of law enforcement behavior should never have been allowed to result in criminal charges. PLC is committed to a resolution to this situation that protects the Maude family and ensures the Forest Service is a good partner to ranchers, not a looming threat over every range management decision.”

In a recent social media post, Heather Maude stated: “We have retained attorneys, and have been advised to wait until evidence is released to speak about it. We have been waiting for evidence for almost a month longer than anticipated.”

She continued, “What we are facing is unprecedented - this is a civil issue with resolution methods in place that we were actively seeking at the time we were indicted. Criminally charging a husband and wife in this type of situation has not happened before.”