As you likely know, the EPA is attempting to gain permission to implement the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. This rule, which is an extension of the Clean Water Act, would put virtually all water in the United States under the control of the federal government. That means the federal government can come onto your property and tell you what you can do or cannot do with your pond, your stream, your ditch that occasionally holds water, or your wetland that just happens to contain peat which you sell to provide money to care for your family.
Worse yet, if the EPA or the Army Corp of Engineers come onto your property and makes a decision to take control of your property(that is called a jurisdictional determination, and the Army Corp makes 54,000 of them a year!), up until now the property owner had no recourse.
Fortunately for all of us, when the Army Corp of Engineers made a jurisdictional determination on the Minnesota peat bog owned by Kevin Pierce of the Hawkes Co., Inc., Pierce was unwilling to roll over and give up control of his property without a fight. To learn more about this important court case and the resulting Supreme Court Case victory, please read the short article and two short video by clicking on this link.
