ND Man fined $10,000 for violating easement

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. 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. 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. 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...Individual.com