Make sure you get your permits before plowing your fields...

[Dadnatron]

I would say, a very rational assessment of the limited information publicized. :thumbsup:

In many instances government does "over reach". But do we as individuals pick and choose what rules, regulations, or laws we will or not abide by? Almost everyday someone is complaining about this or that law but do noting about it to vote those same public officials that approved such legislation out of office.

The real issue isn't that he did it... it is that he did it without a .gov form saying he can do it. They are NOT arguing about what he did, only that he didn't get prior approval.

 

[IslandTractor]

The real issue isn't that he did it... it is that he did it without a .gov form saying he can do it. They are NOT arguing about what he did, only that he didn't get prior approval.

And, presumably he would have been told to stay X yards away from certain areas or that he could plow but not use a subsoiler etc. I doubt it was just filing the paperwork. If so then he was an idiot.

 

[Dadnatron]

He would have been OK, plowing, which moves significantly more soil. A subsoiler is designed to move almost NO soil. simply to break the structure apart. Those 3" are what .gov is basing their claim upon. And, if he was able to drive through the areas with a subsoiler AND drill wheat which grew, it is EXTREMELY unlikely that those 'wetlands' were anything more than a low spot.

My parents have a 'wetlands' which is 'protected' now... it began because they irrigated. And according to NRCS, they cannot stop irrigating, because it then is cutting off supply to the wetlands. This is the idiocy that is our .gov.

I don't want people dumping crap into streams nor allowing horrible erosion etc. but the people who set the rules are not the people who actually do anything on the land.

 

[Mace Canute]

From the link:

Because the property has numerous swales and wetlands, Duarte hired a consulting firm to map out areas on the property that were not to be plowed because they were part of the drainage for Coyote and Oat creeks and were considered "Waters of the United States".

Francois conceded that some of the wetlands were plowed, but they were not significantly damaged. He said the ground was plowed to a depth of 4 inches to 7 inches.

He brought his troubles on himself if he went to the trouble of paying a consultant to find out where he couldn't plow and then went ahead and ignored them and plowed where he felt like.

 

[WM75Guy]

This is a case of overreach using the EPA rule definition of "Waters of the U.S." by the Corp of Engineers. The original intent was to protect navigable waterways. For example spring water from my property eventually reaches the Gulf of Mexico several hundred miles away. It could be considered as "Waters of the U.S." by the EPA rules as a tributary of a body of water used for interstate commerce. President Trump has issued an Executive Order to review and either revise or rescind the definition. Hopefully that will eliminate these types of enforcement actions.

About Waters of the United States | Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rulemaking | US EPA

 

[Oldoak]

Well I see this thread can go on for quite some time with all the armchair annalists giving their interpretation/opinion.

Time to break out a couple................................:drink:

I already had my say. No sense arguing. However, at the same time I do agree with Mace Canute and others with similar reasoning. :thumbsup:

 

[MNBobcat]

California... Enough said.

No ****. No way in heck should you ever need a permit to farm. That's just insane.

 

[TheMan419]

No ****. No way in heck should you ever need a permit to farm. That's just insane.

Out west the next war is going to be over water. You may not need a permit to farm, but you need a permit to get water.....

 

[widefat]

Out west the next war is going to be over water. You may not need a permit to farm, but you need a permit to get water.....

It will be interesting to watch how the Hollywood elite "environmentalists" handle the water war. My bet, they sell out the lower classes, migrate to another area where they can continue to enjoy their cake.

 

[IslandTractor]

No ****. No way in heck should you ever need a permit to farm. That's just insane.

So you'd be cool if your next door neighbor decided to open a pig farm and convert his swimming pool into a manure pit? No permit required? Or NIMBY?

Agriculture impacts the environment. No unreasonable to regulate it IMO.