New trial date for Charles and Heather Maude
The Western South Dakota couple indicted for theft of federal property will not go to trial in April. A new court date of July 22, 2025, has been established for Charles and Heather Maude, who ranch on the western edge of the South Dakota Badlands. Federal district court in Rapid City will host the hearing.
The couple each face up to $250,000 in fines and 10 years in prison. They were indicted separately, requiring them to each retain separate legal counsel. The charge stems from a dispute over land use and a fenceline that dates back at least 70 years. The Maudes were working with the U.S. Forest Service to resolve the situation when they were blindsided with the felony charge.
Many elected officials including Wyoming Representative Harriet Hageman, and industry spokesman are calling for President Trump and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins to take action to drop the charges and seek peaceful resolution in the Maude case. South Dakota Representative Dusty Johnson and Senator Rounds have voiced strong support for the Maudes as well.
Background
Charles and Heather were indicted separately by a grand jury in 2025 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.”
In the Badlands of South Dakota, where the Maudes ranch and the dispute exists, 25 acres would provide approximately enough grass to feed one cow-calf pair for a year.
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 land assumed to be in question and the management practices the USFS is alleging are “theft” have been in place for generations.
The Maude’s maintain a functioning grazing agreement with the U.S. Forest Service. They have not been alerted of a violation of their grazing permit.
According to Senator Rounds, the following is the timeline of events leading up to the Maudes’ indictment.
TSLN has asked the USFS for more information about the initial complaint that initiated USFS agent Travis Lunders’ visit to the Maudes. The USFS has not responded.
