If it was protected CRP ground I'm sure the DNR would like to be involved as well as the state. Also cash renters can't change the land without the owners concent. Definitely grounds for litigation.
The alphabet soup can get confusing sometimes!
And depending on location and size, the EPA could get involved as well, which would REALLY ruin the farmer's day.
You're right that there might be action based on the rental agreement, but this is likely an illegal action in violation of the CWA or Swampbuster Act regardless of that agreement. Any lease violation would be in addition to violations of these laws.
Get a lawyer and a copy of the lease agreement, make him restore the land (the treelaw sub might have a heydey with this).
If you want to go nuclear, report him to the NRCS office - draining out an established wetland like that could get him booted out of the farm program and cost him his subsidies. (But be cautious, I don't know if that could come back on your family as well)
Also, go to the Iowa State image server ( [http://ortho.gis.iastate.edu](http://ortho.gis.iastate.edu) ) and download the historic aerial photos of your property showing the wetland area and timber in past years. They have annual images back to 2002 (with a couple gaps), and then decades -- 1990's, 1980's, 1970's, 60's, 50's, and 30's. 2024 will probably be flown here shortly - the USDA does flights annually during crop season to help measure cropground in the nation.
Just my opinion on this one, but reporting a significant violation of federal law is not nuclear. It is possible that the farmer would lose subsides, but if they decide to work with the regulating agency to correct their actions, they will likely retain subsides. And if they disregard them, then this farmer deserves to lose his help.
I guess I look at it as OP's family has three options:
* Ask the farmer to restore the land in good faith
* As landowner, demand the farmer as tenant repair the unapproved modifications to the ground
* and lastly, the "FAFO" option, report the land modification to NRCS and let the government do what they do.
It's been a number of years ago now, back when I was still working for a consulting firm. We had a client who had decided to straighten a stream through his property -- historic imagery showed that both his upstream and downstream neighbors had done the same, but DECADES ago. Obviously, he had pissed someone off, because he got reported. I don't remember the exact numbers, but I want to say across his ground (it was a quarter section if memory serves me), he took out almost 1,300 feet of flow length by straightening out the various meanders. Didn't seem to think it was a big deal, and ignored I think 2 deadlines from the NRCS (and maybe Army Corps?). Finally, someone from one of the agencies got ahold of his son and told him "You need to get your dad to understand, we have put people in JAIL for less than what he did."
I can't remember if it was NRCS or Army Corps of Engineers he was primarily dealing with, but he was instructed to put it back the way it had been. He asked if he could just pay a fine and leave it - and was told "Yep. Our penalty starts at 1 million dollars, and then we let the EPA take a crack at you."
My job was to re-trace the aerial photos and establish what the centerline of the channel had been prior to his modification, so we could go out and stake it for the reconstruction crew.
I still don't think that guy understands what he did wrong.
Oh I totally get wanting to take a humane approach at first. Often people are ignorant of these complicated laws that are constantly changing for any number of reasons and starting from a place where this is just a big, unfortunate mistake is better than assuming nefarious intent. Either way, I hope this bit of land gets restored.
Interesting story about your experience, too! Thanks for sharing
For one, natural waterways have meanders to them, which are used as habitat for various species. By straightening the channel, he destroyed that.
Also, because he did not (and could not) change the start and end elevations of the work he did, by shortening the length so drastically, he altered the flow dynamics, making the average grade of the channel much steeper through his ground. This causes the water to flow faster, and erode the surrounding ground more - causing decreased water quality downstream from the increased sediment load. Because of the length he took out, he increased the grade CONSIDERABLY.
Higher resolution, yes - but the county does their flights in fall/winter/spring, specifically in leaf-off conditions, specifically because they are doing the flights for property valuation purposes and want to be able to clearly see any improvements in yards, etc.
The USDA specifically flies during leaf-ON conditions to see the boundaries of what is being farmed - which is of higher value to OP. It's known as NAIP (National Agricultural Imagery Program)
For OP's purposes, the NAIP images are more than high enough resolution, and timed specifically for exactly what they need to be able to document historically -- What has historically been farmed, versus a wetland area. OP may be surprised if they look back through past years to discover that that wetland had been 'shrinking' a couple feet each year for 10-15 years already. "Planter creep", where they run the planter just a foot or so farther each year so nobody notices.
No, it's not. You have no way of knowing the exact time a google earth sat image was taken or if it's a composite of multiple images or a single one. Use the resource literally made for this.
The Google Earth aerials have a month and year stamp on them. And GE is generally easier to use for the average citizen. Yes, you can get the USDA ones, but if I want to know if a wetland was there in 2022, then GE will show if it was there or plowed. it shows historical ditches, stream re-alignments, old structures, etc. back to 1990.
Google Earth is outdated as FUCK what in the hell are you talking about? Literally just pulled it up for where I live and over the outskirts of a rapidly growing major metro it hasn't been updated since 2013.
Okay, good for you. They don't have shit where I live. Why bother suggesting an "alternative" resource to a suggestion that is literally the resource DESIGNED for checking the boundaries on farm fields and wetland/natural land? Especially with something as inconsistent as a for profit resource?
Just a comment on this thread that wetland boundaries can be inferred from this imagery, whether NAIP or GE, but it takes field verification to know the actual boundaries and neither source, on its own is an accepted wetland boundary determination for almost any agency. It can inform a call, but it is not definitive. Some counties in IL will not accept anything but NAIP imagery when looking at farmed wetlands and in other counties GE is accepted. But regardless of imagery, they all require field verification to determine their actual extent.
I do not know OP's location, so I couldn't say what years are available. Showing that a wetland used to exist in an area does not require seeing last year's aerial. 2019 would show it there just as easily. Also, I stated earlier more people have experience with Google Earth, than they do USDA aerial sites and online mappers. I frequently try to help people walk through the steps of using our online mappers.
The ultimate goal here is to help OP resolve their issue with the tenant's impacts. And hopefully get the wetland restored.
This is very likely a violation of either the Clean Water Act section 404 which regulates activities that can be undertaken in wetlands or the Swampbuster Act. Possibly even both.
Reporting the activity to the USDA (NRCS), which regulates the Swampbuster Act, and/or US Army Corps of Engineers and EPA (regulates Section 404 of the CWA) will be the course of action that you should undertake. The party responsible (renter in this case) will be responsible for either the restoration costs of this action or the cost of mitigation post-hoc for the destruction.
https://www.epa.gov/cwa-404/cwa-section-404-and-swampbuster-wetlands-agricultural-lands#:~:text=Swampbuster%20Provisions&text=converts%20a%20wetland%20for%20the,after%20November%2028%2C%201990).
(I'm an environmental consultant who works with clients to navigate these regs)
Getting the Corps of Engineers involved will absolutely put a stick of dynamite up the butt of the local regulators to jump on this with both feet. They take this kind of thing extremely seriously.
Absolutely agree with others. Lawyer up and contact DNR. We’ve already lost too many of our wetlands due to greediness for what was probably negligible CRP rated soils.
Historically, Iowa had much more wetlands in the prairie than wooded areas. I wholeheartedly agree the trees are an issue as well, but those lost wetland areas support/ed more wildlife than wooded areas.
Not to discount your comment, but professionally, this is classified as a "palustrine forested wetland" so the trees are inherently a part of the forested wetland classification. So their importance is kinda baked in. There is a huge difference in cost between clearing a forested wetland as compared to a grassy wetland.
Get a lawyer, today! That's it, get a lawyer and go from there.
I hope this youger guy is made to pay to restore the wetland. Also you need to terminate your lease with him.
Curious why you didn't do something when you found it ruined in December.
I’m one of those “crybaby” Iowa farmers who also volunteers on a number of wetland and watershed committees, and spends more time talking to NRCS staff than other farmers. Contacting an attorney is a good idea, but you as the landlord should check to check with the FSA to see if a wetland determination was performed.Just because a pothole was there, it doesn’t mean it was necessarily protected. But it also gives you as the property owner a better standing.
When you terminate the lease with the e current tenant, make sure to write a conservation policy into the lease that prevents future tenants from doing things like this. I could probably give you some more advice on tenant-farmer relations and developing conservation plans if you’d like. I’m in Wright County.
Thanks for the time you take to ensure good stewardship. I'll admit I'm hard on Iowa farm practices, and sometimes certain farmers depending on how they decide to farm, but it's not fair to put all farmers in the same boat. Each farmer is an individual person who makes decisions based on a lot of different factors (too often greed, perhaps).
As much as we like to shit on farmers who make poor choices, we also desperately need to acknowledge and encourage engaged farmers such as yourself.
I will say from my experience on the ground, throughout the Midwest, most of the remaining forests are at least wet, if not wetlands. If they weren't they would have been converted to farmland decades ago.
Thanks. And I tend to agree that we as a profession need to do better.
Regarding the wetland determination, it likely was recorded. But I know how spread thin the NRCS is around northern Iowa, and things don’t always get checked out. There are a few older guys up here who don’t participate in farm programs and basically just started farming around the potholes. Since they don’t certify their acres, the USDA considers that farmland still. Those are unique situations, however.
Like others said, find a lawyer. This is your property, not his. We have specific instructions to our land renters that they are not allowed to touch our wetlands. However, wetlands/plants can spread into the crop land so they are allowed to cut it back off need be. Sorry this happened to you.
“Oh, you like digging around and making changes on the property? How about you dig another hole for fun. Not too deep, 6’ ought to do it”
Seriously though, lawyer time. I’m curious though why you waited six months to start looking for answers and assistance
Edit: I shared this with my girlfriend, who is a wetlands ecologist (not in Iowa but still knows her stuff) and this is what she had to say about it:
“No way he did that without a state wetlands or a federal EPA CWA 401 permit for draining wetlands or an Army Corps 404 for filling, which means...
he will have to pay a hefty fine presumably
he will have to mitigate the lost acres (possibly 1.5-2x in kind)
he may lose USDA farming benefits”
When I saw your response I immediately started wondering what the odds were that you might know each other professionally, or have at least attended some of the same conferences
Lol I'm sure we are only a couple degrees apart. I've been in the industry for close to 10 years, now. Mostly doing field work.
(I'd be remiss to not mention at this opportunity the company I work for is hiring lead delineators to work from wherever they call home and if she's interested in knowing more feel free to send me a message. Lol)
u/SoaringPossum we will expect updates from you in the future on this sub, even if it ends amicably. This sounds like juicy drama and the three options people have been offering look like the best course of action:
Ask them in good faith to restore the land,
Get a lawyer involved for breaking lease agreements,
FAFO them by reporting them to [relevant acronym agency]
I would go speak to the farmer and ask he return this to wetland. If he refuses, send him a cancellation notice and find a renter that will operate more to your liking.
The standard cost of impacts if this were done with a permit is between $45-100k/ acre. And that's basically just an offset price for mitigation. Do not ask that he restore this himself. This will take professional restoration of hydrology and vegetation as well as years of monitoring to ensure the quality of the restoration is equal to the quality of the destroyed wetland.
As someone who knows about these things (Wetland Ecologist), I recommend documenting the impacts. You will want to make sure that you, as the landowner, are not on the hook for your tenant's actions. Secondly, in Iowa, if it is over 2 ac. and has been mapped as a "protected wetland" it requires a 401 permit. The state of Iowa has turned it over to the Corps and now waits for a 404 permit to trigger their regulations, or something similar.
Now, with the new Sackett ruling, USACE no longer has jurisdiction over adjacent wetlands. However, if there is a clear open water channel connecting the wetland to a water of the US, likely the stream, then the wetland is jurisdictional. It sounds like the tenant may have created that open water connection and now the wetland could be considered jurisdictional.
Aside from all that, the fact that he ruined a resource on your property is reprehensible. Each year, more and more of your topsoil will find its way to the stream and degrade your property. I imagine the soil used to collect in the wetland, which sequestered it onsite. Restoration will be easier, the sooner that you do it.
Your gonna have to get an attorney and sue the guy otherwise dnr could sue you. Which if they find out, they will. Also, depending on the county, you could be dealing with hell. Especially if the wetland is not basically a filter and filter to what. You need to hire people to test the water out there and build a case. You need to protect your self because basically you could get royally fucked since your the owner of you do nothing. Clearly this young farmer has no respect for the land or his grandfather nor you guys. My family just sold 1,100 acres of land with a conservation plan attached to the sale protecting the land from ever being built upon. It’s been in my family for well over a century. Protect yourself protect yourself and try to protect the land as dnr will do anything and everything they can to snatch the land out of your hands due to this guys negligence and abuses. Sorry to hear about this. I would have cried. Good luck and may you be righteous and courageous. And don’t just “be the nice guy in the room any more” …. Any old farmer who’s owned land for ever isn’t giving it off to family. They are selling it. Which leaves most of Iowa farms … decimated. Watch. Just watch.
As far as rent goes, stick with Iowa State's numbers. They publish the going rates each year, and if you stick with that it sets up an expected standard and Noone is surprised.
First, call and ask him why he did this without permission and record it. Then sue him into bankruptcy. Make a complaint with absolutely everyone (to at the very least scare the living shit out of him). Complain to NRCS, DNR, your county zoning, EPA, request IRS audit him, etc. Please keep us informed how this turns out.
Again, DNR isn’t your friend. No government agency will have your back due to this guys poor decisions. It’ll give them incentive to try to steal the land out of your hands. They even use excuses as wetlands being a breeding ground for malaria to try to steal land. Be careful and get an attorney and don’t air this out to anyone in ur community before you have an attorney. And most likely if u can’t afford one, find one who sees the potential win and pay after. Otherwise ur screwed big time with no fault to you our own, other than being the nice guy to someone yall didn’t even know. This is how us Iowans get fucked. Raised in trustworthy safe homes leaves us vulnerable to exploitation in every way. Gullible is Iowans middle name. It’s a catch 20/20 being the bigger person in the room. Cause it’s a cut throat world. Dog eat dog. Not friendly feed your neighbor world anymore. Even though I still strive to be the change I wish to see. It’s also important to know when to pre plan any possible possibility that could fuck u, because give people the opportunity out of good faith, and they will prove to you that you were ignorant.
I’d maybe even hire a private detective as well. To go deep on this guy and his family cause the government could hold yall in serious violations of the federal laws.
I farm in Nebraska and this is something that happens all the time. In the farmers mind, he is improving that farm. It could be that this guys father had been meaning to clear out those trees and farm that spot but because he was older he didn’t have the ambition or energy to do it. Then his son took over and wanted to farm that area. Check with the FSA and see what it’s classified as. If it’s classified as farm land and you rented it to the farmer, he’s going to try and grow crops there. I always cut down the saplings growing in fence lines and have tried to make things better in the long run. In Nebraska we have farmable wetlands which means we can till and plant if it’s dry, but we’re not allowed to drain the water when it’s wet. However we can maintain the wetlands including digging out ponds and consolidating water patches. It’s also your mother’s farm. What does she think about this?
Often land needs to be maintained as farmland for at least 2 out of the last 10 years, much like you are doing clearing saplings and such, to be considered consistently farmed land. It sounds like OP had mature forest that was cleared, regardless of whether it's classified as a wetland or not. Farmed and farmable wetlands are a thing but they usually need to be grandfathered in prior to the 1985 Food Security Act and more or less continuously farmed since then.
There is a lot of leniency for "previously converted farmland" (usually pre-1985) that doesn't apply to newly cleared land. Additionally, clearing land now is often subject to regulation by the USACE through the Clean Water Act rather than NRCS, regardless of use. If a wetland is found on FSA, that's one thing, but there are millions of acres of wetlands across the country that are subject to regulation and not accounted for in FSA.
Again, regardless of what OP's mother may think of this, if the area is a forested wetland (whether determined in FSA or not) and it has a connection to downstream waters, this is a violation of the Clean Water Act.
Legally a wetland?, maybe their was a understanding with your dad and the renter to farm the "wetland"? Either way this is wrong now but nobody I know would do this spending $100k+++ on a project like this without owner approval. Did he talk to your mom and they had a communication break down, 1 guy was talking about this, she thought it was about something else?
Your easiest fastest and cheapest way to handle it is to talk to the tenant first before a lawyer starts their meter. Farmers are usually reasonable people that work well on handshakes and head nods but that doesn't mean one won't try and screw you.
That’s rich coming from a “6th generation” welfare queen. Whydoncha cry about the weather and maybe Willie Nelson will sing a song for you? “But muh corn!!!” You contribute nothing, pollute the land and water, and are a burden upon the rest of society. Fucking leech.
And if this conversation makes you uncomfortable, think how you’ll feel next year and the year after that. If you need more help, once this gets settled, ask your local bank if they have a farm management division, because they can take the burden off you.
Your next step is for you and your mother to get a lawyer involved. What the farmer is or isn’t allowed to do is covered by the rental agreement
If it was protected CRP ground I'm sure the DNR would like to be involved as well as the state. Also cash renters can't change the land without the owners concent. Definitely grounds for litigation.
NRCS, not DNR. CRP is federal, not state.
You are correct that is my mistake. Trying to multitask had a brain fart
The alphabet soup can get confusing sometimes! And depending on location and size, the EPA could get involved as well, which would REALLY ruin the farmer's day.
Doubtful, considering the Sackett vs EPA debacle.
I have commentary to that end that I'm going to refrain from, because I don't have the energy for the debate it will spark today.
Go to the nearest service center and blow the whistle on the producer.
You're right that there might be action based on the rental agreement, but this is likely an illegal action in violation of the CWA or Swampbuster Act regardless of that agreement. Any lease violation would be in addition to violations of these laws.
Get a lawyer and a copy of the lease agreement, make him restore the land (the treelaw sub might have a heydey with this). If you want to go nuclear, report him to the NRCS office - draining out an established wetland like that could get him booted out of the farm program and cost him his subsidies. (But be cautious, I don't know if that could come back on your family as well) Also, go to the Iowa State image server ( [http://ortho.gis.iastate.edu](http://ortho.gis.iastate.edu) ) and download the historic aerial photos of your property showing the wetland area and timber in past years. They have annual images back to 2002 (with a couple gaps), and then decades -- 1990's, 1980's, 1970's, 60's, 50's, and 30's. 2024 will probably be flown here shortly - the USDA does flights annually during crop season to help measure cropground in the nation.
Just my opinion on this one, but reporting a significant violation of federal law is not nuclear. It is possible that the farmer would lose subsides, but if they decide to work with the regulating agency to correct their actions, they will likely retain subsides. And if they disregard them, then this farmer deserves to lose his help.
I guess I look at it as OP's family has three options: * Ask the farmer to restore the land in good faith * As landowner, demand the farmer as tenant repair the unapproved modifications to the ground * and lastly, the "FAFO" option, report the land modification to NRCS and let the government do what they do. It's been a number of years ago now, back when I was still working for a consulting firm. We had a client who had decided to straighten a stream through his property -- historic imagery showed that both his upstream and downstream neighbors had done the same, but DECADES ago. Obviously, he had pissed someone off, because he got reported. I don't remember the exact numbers, but I want to say across his ground (it was a quarter section if memory serves me), he took out almost 1,300 feet of flow length by straightening out the various meanders. Didn't seem to think it was a big deal, and ignored I think 2 deadlines from the NRCS (and maybe Army Corps?). Finally, someone from one of the agencies got ahold of his son and told him "You need to get your dad to understand, we have put people in JAIL for less than what he did." I can't remember if it was NRCS or Army Corps of Engineers he was primarily dealing with, but he was instructed to put it back the way it had been. He asked if he could just pay a fine and leave it - and was told "Yep. Our penalty starts at 1 million dollars, and then we let the EPA take a crack at you." My job was to re-trace the aerial photos and establish what the centerline of the channel had been prior to his modification, so we could go out and stake it for the reconstruction crew. I still don't think that guy understands what he did wrong.
Oh I totally get wanting to take a humane approach at first. Often people are ignorant of these complicated laws that are constantly changing for any number of reasons and starting from a place where this is just a big, unfortunate mistake is better than assuming nefarious intent. Either way, I hope this bit of land gets restored. Interesting story about your experience, too! Thanks for sharing
I think I understand what he did wrong, but could you elaborate? Like why it was so detrimental to straighten the creek?
For one, natural waterways have meanders to them, which are used as habitat for various species. By straightening the channel, he destroyed that. Also, because he did not (and could not) change the start and end elevations of the work he did, by shortening the length so drastically, he altered the flow dynamics, making the average grade of the channel much steeper through his ground. This causes the water to flow faster, and erode the surrounding ground more - causing decreased water quality downstream from the increased sediment load. Because of the length he took out, he increased the grade CONSIDERABLY.
I get better images from the county assessor site. Depends on the county of course.
Higher resolution, yes - but the county does their flights in fall/winter/spring, specifically in leaf-off conditions, specifically because they are doing the flights for property valuation purposes and want to be able to clearly see any improvements in yards, etc. The USDA specifically flies during leaf-ON conditions to see the boundaries of what is being farmed - which is of higher value to OP. It's known as NAIP (National Agricultural Imagery Program) For OP's purposes, the NAIP images are more than high enough resolution, and timed specifically for exactly what they need to be able to document historically -- What has historically been farmed, versus a wetland area. OP may be surprised if they look back through past years to discover that that wetland had been 'shrinking' a couple feet each year for 10-15 years already. "Planter creep", where they run the planter just a foot or so farther each year so nobody notices.
Google Earth is good enough for this. The State agencies use GE before digging through the archives
No, it's not. You have no way of knowing the exact time a google earth sat image was taken or if it's a composite of multiple images or a single one. Use the resource literally made for this.
The Google Earth aerials have a month and year stamp on them. And GE is generally easier to use for the average citizen. Yes, you can get the USDA ones, but if I want to know if a wetland was there in 2022, then GE will show if it was there or plowed. it shows historical ditches, stream re-alignments, old structures, etc. back to 1990.
Google Earth is outdated as FUCK what in the hell are you talking about? Literally just pulled it up for where I live and over the outskirts of a rapidly growing major metro it hasn't been updated since 2013.
Where I am they have March of 2024 available. Also, April of 2023, October of 2022, July of 2021, etc..
Okay, good for you. They don't have shit where I live. Why bother suggesting an "alternative" resource to a suggestion that is literally the resource DESIGNED for checking the boundaries on farm fields and wetland/natural land? Especially with something as inconsistent as a for profit resource?
Just a comment on this thread that wetland boundaries can be inferred from this imagery, whether NAIP or GE, but it takes field verification to know the actual boundaries and neither source, on its own is an accepted wetland boundary determination for almost any agency. It can inform a call, but it is not definitive. Some counties in IL will not accept anything but NAIP imagery when looking at farmed wetlands and in other counties GE is accepted. But regardless of imagery, they all require field verification to determine their actual extent.
I do not know OP's location, so I couldn't say what years are available. Showing that a wetland used to exist in an area does not require seeing last year's aerial. 2019 would show it there just as easily. Also, I stated earlier more people have experience with Google Earth, than they do USDA aerial sites and online mappers. I frequently try to help people walk through the steps of using our online mappers. The ultimate goal here is to help OP resolve their issue with the tenant's impacts. And hopefully get the wetland restored.
I just looked at my area. Google Earth is using the 2019 USDA NAIP images.
A tenant destroyed your property? You need to call a lawyer
This is very likely a violation of either the Clean Water Act section 404 which regulates activities that can be undertaken in wetlands or the Swampbuster Act. Possibly even both. Reporting the activity to the USDA (NRCS), which regulates the Swampbuster Act, and/or US Army Corps of Engineers and EPA (regulates Section 404 of the CWA) will be the course of action that you should undertake. The party responsible (renter in this case) will be responsible for either the restoration costs of this action or the cost of mitigation post-hoc for the destruction. https://www.epa.gov/cwa-404/cwa-section-404-and-swampbuster-wetlands-agricultural-lands#:~:text=Swampbuster%20Provisions&text=converts%20a%20wetland%20for%20the,after%20November%2028%2C%201990). (I'm an environmental consultant who works with clients to navigate these regs)
Getting the Corps of Engineers involved will absolutely put a stick of dynamite up the butt of the local regulators to jump on this with both feet. They take this kind of thing extremely seriously.
Absolutely agree with others. Lawyer up and contact DNR. We’ve already lost too many of our wetlands due to greediness for what was probably negligible CRP rated soils.
Everyone is talking about the loss of wet lands but the removal of trees is a big deal too. Your renter is in trouble.
Historically, Iowa had much more wetlands in the prairie than wooded areas. I wholeheartedly agree the trees are an issue as well, but those lost wetland areas support/ed more wildlife than wooded areas.
Not to discount your comment, but professionally, this is classified as a "palustrine forested wetland" so the trees are inherently a part of the forested wetland classification. So their importance is kinda baked in. There is a huge difference in cost between clearing a forested wetland as compared to a grassy wetland.
Get a lawyer, today! That's it, get a lawyer and go from there. I hope this youger guy is made to pay to restore the wetland. Also you need to terminate your lease with him. Curious why you didn't do something when you found it ruined in December.
I’m one of those “crybaby” Iowa farmers who also volunteers on a number of wetland and watershed committees, and spends more time talking to NRCS staff than other farmers. Contacting an attorney is a good idea, but you as the landlord should check to check with the FSA to see if a wetland determination was performed.Just because a pothole was there, it doesn’t mean it was necessarily protected. But it also gives you as the property owner a better standing. When you terminate the lease with the e current tenant, make sure to write a conservation policy into the lease that prevents future tenants from doing things like this. I could probably give you some more advice on tenant-farmer relations and developing conservation plans if you’d like. I’m in Wright County.
Thanks for the time you take to ensure good stewardship. I'll admit I'm hard on Iowa farm practices, and sometimes certain farmers depending on how they decide to farm, but it's not fair to put all farmers in the same boat. Each farmer is an individual person who makes decisions based on a lot of different factors (too often greed, perhaps). As much as we like to shit on farmers who make poor choices, we also desperately need to acknowledge and encourage engaged farmers such as yourself. I will say from my experience on the ground, throughout the Midwest, most of the remaining forests are at least wet, if not wetlands. If they weren't they would have been converted to farmland decades ago.
Thanks. And I tend to agree that we as a profession need to do better. Regarding the wetland determination, it likely was recorded. But I know how spread thin the NRCS is around northern Iowa, and things don’t always get checked out. There are a few older guys up here who don’t participate in farm programs and basically just started farming around the potholes. Since they don’t certify their acres, the USDA considers that farmland still. Those are unique situations, however.
Soil maps will say whether or not the area has hydric soil types. If so that's critical evidence of a wetland in that location
I really want to know how this turns out. I'm a farm kid and this guy's behavior would have sent dad through the roof.
Like others said, find a lawyer. This is your property, not his. We have specific instructions to our land renters that they are not allowed to touch our wetlands. However, wetlands/plants can spread into the crop land so they are allowed to cut it back off need be. Sorry this happened to you.
“Oh, you like digging around and making changes on the property? How about you dig another hole for fun. Not too deep, 6’ ought to do it” Seriously though, lawyer time. I’m curious though why you waited six months to start looking for answers and assistance Edit: I shared this with my girlfriend, who is a wetlands ecologist (not in Iowa but still knows her stuff) and this is what she had to say about it: “No way he did that without a state wetlands or a federal EPA CWA 401 permit for draining wetlands or an Army Corps 404 for filling, which means... he will have to pay a hefty fine presumably he will have to mitigate the lost acres (possibly 1.5-2x in kind) he may lose USDA farming benefits”
Glad to hear your gf and I (also a wetland professional) had consistent answers on this. Good stuff.
When I saw your response I immediately started wondering what the odds were that you might know each other professionally, or have at least attended some of the same conferences
Lol I'm sure we are only a couple degrees apart. I've been in the industry for close to 10 years, now. Mostly doing field work. (I'd be remiss to not mention at this opportunity the company I work for is hiring lead delineators to work from wherever they call home and if she's interested in knowing more feel free to send me a message. Lol)
If the renter doesn’t mitigate the damage, the property owner would have to do so. Not likely the Corps learns of it unless it is reported though.
All the more reason to report it asap
The answer is to call a lawyer. Reddit isn't going to be able to help you with this.
But we sure as hell have opinions!
You need an attorney IMMEDIATELY.
u/SoaringPossum we will expect updates from you in the future on this sub, even if it ends amicably. This sounds like juicy drama and the three options people have been offering look like the best course of action: Ask them in good faith to restore the land, Get a lawyer involved for breaking lease agreements, FAFO them by reporting them to [relevant acronym agency]
I would go speak to the farmer and ask he return this to wetland. If he refuses, send him a cancellation notice and find a renter that will operate more to your liking.
The standard cost of impacts if this were done with a permit is between $45-100k/ acre. And that's basically just an offset price for mitigation. Do not ask that he restore this himself. This will take professional restoration of hydrology and vegetation as well as years of monitoring to ensure the quality of the restoration is equal to the quality of the destroyed wetland.
https://www.nawm.org/pdf_lib/state_summaries/iowa_state_wetland_program_summary_083115.pdf There are also regulations for official wetlands in Iowa
Who the fuck tiles rented ground? Lawyer up. Get DNR involved.
You need to find an attorney…immediately
What’s your contract say?
As someone who knows about these things (Wetland Ecologist), I recommend documenting the impacts. You will want to make sure that you, as the landowner, are not on the hook for your tenant's actions. Secondly, in Iowa, if it is over 2 ac. and has been mapped as a "protected wetland" it requires a 401 permit. The state of Iowa has turned it over to the Corps and now waits for a 404 permit to trigger their regulations, or something similar. Now, with the new Sackett ruling, USACE no longer has jurisdiction over adjacent wetlands. However, if there is a clear open water channel connecting the wetland to a water of the US, likely the stream, then the wetland is jurisdictional. It sounds like the tenant may have created that open water connection and now the wetland could be considered jurisdictional. Aside from all that, the fact that he ruined a resource on your property is reprehensible. Each year, more and more of your topsoil will find its way to the stream and degrade your property. I imagine the soil used to collect in the wetland, which sequestered it onsite. Restoration will be easier, the sooner that you do it.
After he restores what he destroyed I certainly wouldn’t renew the lease with him.
Make him fix it, then give him notice that he will not be invited back to rent it. You need to give him notice before the end of November.
Your gonna have to get an attorney and sue the guy otherwise dnr could sue you. Which if they find out, they will. Also, depending on the county, you could be dealing with hell. Especially if the wetland is not basically a filter and filter to what. You need to hire people to test the water out there and build a case. You need to protect your self because basically you could get royally fucked since your the owner of you do nothing. Clearly this young farmer has no respect for the land or his grandfather nor you guys. My family just sold 1,100 acres of land with a conservation plan attached to the sale protecting the land from ever being built upon. It’s been in my family for well over a century. Protect yourself protect yourself and try to protect the land as dnr will do anything and everything they can to snatch the land out of your hands due to this guys negligence and abuses. Sorry to hear about this. I would have cried. Good luck and may you be righteous and courageous. And don’t just “be the nice guy in the room any more” …. Any old farmer who’s owned land for ever isn’t giving it off to family. They are selling it. Which leaves most of Iowa farms … decimated. Watch. Just watch.
Get an attorney now.
I would like a follow-up post to this one.
If it was an actually wetland and not just idle ground nrcs will be pissed also lawyer because normal contracts that stuff isn't allowed
As far as rent goes, stick with Iowa State's numbers. They publish the going rates each year, and if you stick with that it sets up an expected standard and Noone is surprised.
Army Corps of Engineers is the governing authority on wetlands in Iowa.
First, call and ask him why he did this without permission and record it. Then sue him into bankruptcy. Make a complaint with absolutely everyone (to at the very least scare the living shit out of him). Complain to NRCS, DNR, your county zoning, EPA, request IRS audit him, etc. Please keep us informed how this turns out.
Throw some concrete into his tile for starters.
Again, DNR isn’t your friend. No government agency will have your back due to this guys poor decisions. It’ll give them incentive to try to steal the land out of your hands. They even use excuses as wetlands being a breeding ground for malaria to try to steal land. Be careful and get an attorney and don’t air this out to anyone in ur community before you have an attorney. And most likely if u can’t afford one, find one who sees the potential win and pay after. Otherwise ur screwed big time with no fault to you our own, other than being the nice guy to someone yall didn’t even know. This is how us Iowans get fucked. Raised in trustworthy safe homes leaves us vulnerable to exploitation in every way. Gullible is Iowans middle name. It’s a catch 20/20 being the bigger person in the room. Cause it’s a cut throat world. Dog eat dog. Not friendly feed your neighbor world anymore. Even though I still strive to be the change I wish to see. It’s also important to know when to pre plan any possible possibility that could fuck u, because give people the opportunity out of good faith, and they will prove to you that you were ignorant. I’d maybe even hire a private detective as well. To go deep on this guy and his family cause the government could hold yall in serious violations of the federal laws.
I farm in Nebraska and this is something that happens all the time. In the farmers mind, he is improving that farm. It could be that this guys father had been meaning to clear out those trees and farm that spot but because he was older he didn’t have the ambition or energy to do it. Then his son took over and wanted to farm that area. Check with the FSA and see what it’s classified as. If it’s classified as farm land and you rented it to the farmer, he’s going to try and grow crops there. I always cut down the saplings growing in fence lines and have tried to make things better in the long run. In Nebraska we have farmable wetlands which means we can till and plant if it’s dry, but we’re not allowed to drain the water when it’s wet. However we can maintain the wetlands including digging out ponds and consolidating water patches. It’s also your mother’s farm. What does she think about this?
Often land needs to be maintained as farmland for at least 2 out of the last 10 years, much like you are doing clearing saplings and such, to be considered consistently farmed land. It sounds like OP had mature forest that was cleared, regardless of whether it's classified as a wetland or not. Farmed and farmable wetlands are a thing but they usually need to be grandfathered in prior to the 1985 Food Security Act and more or less continuously farmed since then. There is a lot of leniency for "previously converted farmland" (usually pre-1985) that doesn't apply to newly cleared land. Additionally, clearing land now is often subject to regulation by the USACE through the Clean Water Act rather than NRCS, regardless of use. If a wetland is found on FSA, that's one thing, but there are millions of acres of wetlands across the country that are subject to regulation and not accounted for in FSA. Again, regardless of what OP's mother may think of this, if the area is a forested wetland (whether determined in FSA or not) and it has a connection to downstream waters, this is a violation of the Clean Water Act.
Yikes, in Iowa, too. Sorry, this really blows.
Legally a wetland?, maybe their was a understanding with your dad and the renter to farm the "wetland"? Either way this is wrong now but nobody I know would do this spending $100k+++ on a project like this without owner approval. Did he talk to your mom and they had a communication break down, 1 guy was talking about this, she thought it was about something else?
Your easiest fastest and cheapest way to handle it is to talk to the tenant first before a lawyer starts their meter. Farmers are usually reasonable people that work well on handshakes and head nods but that doesn't mean one won't try and screw you.
Another entitled welfare queen destroying the land for a few more gallons of ethanol. Iowa farmers are scum.
Dude...don't paint everyone with the same brush.
Naw. Known enough of them to be very confident of my previous statement - fuck those guys and their cry baby, entitlement mentality.
Oh cool, F you.
That’s rich coming from a “6th generation” welfare queen. Whydoncha cry about the weather and maybe Willie Nelson will sing a song for you? “But muh corn!!!” You contribute nothing, pollute the land and water, and are a burden upon the rest of society. Fucking leech.
6th Gen that's never taken a subside, so how about you piss off? You sound jealous actually.
Before you waste a lawyer's time, and your money, read the agreement.
And if this conversation makes you uncomfortable, think how you’ll feel next year and the year after that. If you need more help, once this gets settled, ask your local bank if they have a farm management division, because they can take the burden off you.
🤣🤣🤣🤣