No Way Out of Perpetual Easement for ND Farmer

Liberty News Service

North Dakota - 3/2/09 - Alvin Peterson, the 78 year-old retired North Dakota farmer who has waged a forty-year battle with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over easements protecting potholes on his farm, was fined $10,000 and slapped with a five-year probation sentence in federal court February 24. 

This is the second time in four years that Alvin has been found guilty of destroying government property. 

Peterson maintains that Fish and Wildlife agents misled his ailing father into signing the perpetual conservation easements on the farm that he inherited in 1974.  He was convicted of similar offenses in 2004, a conviction he appealed to District Court and then to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, twice. 

Each time, the decision of the Magistrate Court was upheld.  He refused to pay the fines levied in the first case because, he said, “that would be an admission of guilt.” 

Alvin’s lawyer Tami Norgard told the court “he’s of the view that there is no easement in the first place and he feels very strongly about that.” 

In addition to the fine and probation, Peterson was ordered to pay for the government’s expenses to restore the wetlands to their previous condition. 

U.S. Attorney Cameron Hayden wanted a10-year probation imposed, evidently to make up for the aggravation factor. 

Peterson “egregiously violated” the easement terms for the second time and wants to end the constant litigation which has caused “a waste of tremendous court resources.”  Norgard said she and her client are considering an appeal. 

RELATED STORY:

Man gets $10,000 fine for draining wetland

Archie Ingersoll
Feb 25, 2009
(Grand Forks Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --

A Lawton, N.D., man convicted of draining wetlands on his property was smacked with a $10,000 fine and five years of probation in federal court Tuesday. It's the second time Alvin Peterson, 78, has been sentenced for such an offense.

Peterson hired a contractor build ditches to drain protected prairie potholes in July 2007 on the land he'd farmed for decades, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in North Dakota.

In November 2008, Peterson was found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of improper drainage of wetlands.

Peterson's attorney Tami Norgard argued Tuesday that her client has opposed the wetland easement since it was first established on his property in 1966, when his now-deceased father -- and then-owner of the farm -- signed a contract with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"He's of the view that there is no easement in the first place," she said. "And he feels very strongly about that."

In the courtroom, she worked to dispel the idea that Peterson's stance on easements is radical.

"He's not some crazy person who's coming in here, some obstructionist with an extreme left-wing position," she said. "This is a reasonable position that Mr. Peterson is taking in that there are a lot of people who have been offended by the reaches easements are taking."

Peterson, who suffers from high blood pressure, diabetes and a heart condition, faced up to a year in prison on his charges. But Norgard lobbied against jail time, citing her client's poor health.

Prosecutor Cameron Hayden agreed on no jail time, but recommended 10 years of probation and the maximum fine of $10,000, saying Peterson "egregiously violated" the terms of the easement for a second time.

Peterson was first convicted of draining wetlands in 2004 and was placed on probation.

Hayden showed eagerness to bring a close to the case which, according to him, caused "a waste of tremendous court resources," including two trips to the 8th U.S. Court of Appeals in St. Louis.

"We have discussed and litigated -- as we say around here -- until the cows come home," he said. "I think it's time for all of that to come to an end."

U.S. Magistrate Judge Alice Senechal ordered Peterson to pay a $10,000 fine, serve five years probation and cover the government's cost to hire a contractor to restore the wetlands he drained.

That third requirement pleased the USFWS, said Lloyd Jones, a refuge coordinator for the agency.

"Our biggest interest ... is to get the wetlands restored and get the easement back to what it should be," he said.

Roughly 30,000 landowners have about 900,000 acres in the easement program which works to protect wetlands in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Minnesota and Iowa, Jones said.

He said it's the first time a wetland easement case has gone to court in 10 years.

"We try to resolve these things by working with the people and we try to avoid going to court," he said. "It's just the exception that we run in to situations like Alvin Peterson."

Jones said the contractor hired will bring in dirt and clay to fill the ditches draining the wetlands on Peterson's land.

"Hopefully Mother Natures will take care of the rest," he said.

Outside of court, Norgard said she and her client are considering appealing the conviction.

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