This is the story of our battle with the state of North Dakota over the recycling of scrap tires into fences here at Tired-Out Ranch. Since I have hundreds of pages of letters and documents related to this story, I have chosen to tell the story in my own words, with the more important documents, letters, and pictures included. It began in 1994, when after studying intensive grazing extensively, I began looking for a low cost way to build sheep fence. After trying electric wire with limited success due to the wool on the sheep, which prevents good conductivity with electricity. I read an article in the Farm Show Magazine referring to someone in Australia using scrap tires for sheep fences. She stated that, stacked like bricks and secured by their own weight, scrap tires make an excellent fence for sheep and other small animals. Needless to say, I got very excited about the possibilities of using a waste product such as old tires to build sheep-proof fences as they are one of the most difficult of all animals to keep in.
I went to the nearest tire dealer and asked if they had any old tires I could get to try out on my new project. They immediately said yes and proceeded to help load my trailer with their scrap tires. I thought to myself, boy are these guys helpful. I found out later that tire dealers have to pay someone to haul away their scrap tires. This got me even more excited as now there was the possibility of getting paid a small fee per tire and actually build a fence out of them. I approached my neighbor, who also happens to be the chairman of our township, about my idea. He told me that as long as the scrap tires were beneficially used in agriculture I did not need any permits. I approached tire dealers in Devils Lake, ND about taking their scrap tires. I was asked if I had a waste haulers permit from the state. I inquired as to why I needed this and was told that a copy of a state-issued waste haulers permit was needed on file before they could give me any scrap tires. I immediately applied for and was granted permit WH-505 by the state of ND (click here for permit). So with a waste haulers permit in hand and permission from our township board I started hauling tires. Since it took several thousand tires to make a mile of fence, and I needed many miles of fence, I started contacting all the tire dealers I could find in a hundred-mile radius. I had my native american friend (Gary Longie) draw a picture for us to use on a flyer which I sent out to tire dealers across the state. (click here to see flyer)
Everything went fine for awhile, until an ex-friend filed a complaint with the state about the tire fences. He did not even live in the area at the time, as he was repeatedly in trouble with the law and being evicted at different locations throughout the state. He had just sued me, along with several others, and was angry since the cases were all dismissed as frivolous. After the state sent an official from the Lake Region Health Department to check the site over, the official reported back that he did not see a problem with what I was doing with the scrap tires. Once again everything went along smoothly until one of the state’s employees came to my ranch and asked how much fence I was planning on building. When I told him I planned on building many miles of fence the fireworks began. Harassing letters started coming from the state stating that I was in violation of my waste haulers permit because I was not hauling to a permitted facility. When I responded saying I was beneficially using the tires on my ranch, they accused me of breaking health department rules by having piles exceeding 1500 tires. I informed the state that I wasn’t piling tires but that I was recycling tires into a fence. I was told that anyone could pile up garbage and call it a fence. I sent them the definition of pile which is: 1) to heap up. 2) to move confusedly in a mass. I then informed the state that I was beneficially processing them on my ranch into fences, which under their own waste management rules exempts me from their authority (click here for article 33-20-01.1-02). I defined the word process: a method of doing something with all the steps involved. It seemed quite clear to me that I was going through a process and not just piling tires.
The state started sending letters stating their grave concern about fires, mosquitoes and vermin. I tried communicating to the state the fact that nature takes care of itself when it comes to rodents and pests. I have never seen a rat in my tire fences, as they tend to hang around wherever there is grain to eat. I now see fox in my fenced area as I believe the tires do provide some mice for them to eat. Deer also seem to like the fences for protection from the elements as their population on my ranch has increased ten fold since constructing tire fences. I pointed out that I didn’t believe water stayed in the tires long enough to create a breeding ground for mosquitoes as long as the tires were quickly built into fences. As long as the tires are staggered and have access to wind during warm weather (which is the majority of mosquito season June-September) the water evaporates quite rapidly, usually within 5-8 days (depending on temperature). My understanding is that the cycle of a mosquito from hatch to adult is 14 days. I also read where mosquitoes generally do not travel more than one mile from where they hatched. Since at the present time I have only one family of four that live within one mile of me the risk seems extremely low for any of my fences to adversely affect anyone, even if they were all full of water (which they are not). By the way we live in the Devils Lake Basin area which is the prairie pothole capital of North America. What would the odds be of my fences adversely affecting beyond the norm anyone in our area? Our entire township, six miles square, currently has less than 20 people. As for the fire issue, I maintained then and still do today that a fire would be very easy to control since the tire fences are in single lanes and could be easily broken up by hand or with a tractor and loader. I told them I have a tractor and loader on location at all times. Again the state just could not see my view.
They kept sending threatening letters and calling me a sham recycler. The definition of sham is: something false or fake; person or thing that is a fraud. Since I was not trying to fake anything and was only trying to carry out an idea for low to no cost fencing I began to become really annoyed with them. I ignored their letter as long as I could, until finally a letter came stating I was to stop collecting tires and building fences, as I was now in violation of basically their entire rule book. They stated that enforcement action would begin if I did not comply. About this time the state started informing tire dealers that they someday would be liable for tire cleanup on my ranch. I was also told by one of the state employees that they the state had the money, manpower and resources to force me into compliance. A meeting was arranged to discuss my situation. After the meeting I received a letter stating that the department had reviewed my pictures and agreed that I was using scrap tires in an orderly and beneficially manner. They agreed to let me continue with my recycling project (click here for beneficial use letter).
Although we have never maintained or agreed with any of the state’s claims, we felt we had no choice but to try and cooperate, since tire dealers were starting to drop our services due to comments made by the state reflecting their liability factor. At the meeting held with the state in 1997, I stated it would take a couple of years to finish my project. But since the state kept informing tire dealers that they would have to someday pick up the tires, dealers kept dropping my services and I was forced to travel much greater distances to get the necessary tires for my project. Near the end of my project I was traveling 300 miles to get the same number of tires I once got within 100 miles. At the meeting I also told the state they were welcome on my ranch any time, as I had nothing to hide and was proud of what I was doing.
This was the same year I did my first grazing experiment. I subdivided 15 acres of alfalfa into 12 paddocks using scrap tires as fences. Animals used for this experiment were 94 head of 550 pound Holstein steers and 150 dry ewes. The rotation was every 2 days. The steers were turned into knee high alfalfa and were allowed to graze for a period of 2 days. The dry ewes were used as followers to clean up whatever the steers did not consume. With a 2 day rotation the paddocks were rested for 24 days before re-grazing. I grazed this 15 acres from May 20 to September 1. The prescribed grazing rate according to BIA rules is ten acres per cow calf unit over a 6 month period. Comparatively I increased my stocking rate 25 times over normal stocking rates in our area using this grazing experiment. To me increasing stocking rates to 25 times the normal rate is very beneficial. I later tried to explain this to the state and in court, but apparently it was not beneficial in their eyes.
Approximately 3 to 4 years went by with little harassment from the state. I completed the tire fences needed on my ranch and then purchased 2 tire balers for the purpose of building corrals (click here to see a tire baler). The balers worked wonderful as they compressed 80 to 100 tires into a 2 1/2’ x 4 1/2’ x 5’ block. The corrals were to be used for buffalo and other animals on my ranch. I also planned to sell excess bales to area ranchers. The bales stacked 2 to 3 high (5 to 7 feet) make a indestructible maintenance free corral capable of lasting forever. Again we felt this was a beneficial use exempt from the state regulations. After a large tire shredding operation in Moorhead, MN folded (as most do without government subsidies) I began to get calls from the Fargo- Moorhead area requesting tire pickup. When the state got wind of this they began informing the tire dealers in the Fargo-Moorhead area that they would be liable for any tires coming to my ranch. I tried to explain to the dealers that what I was doing was a beneficial use which exempted me from state regulations, but for the most part the tire dealers seemed terrified of the state. I did manage to keep a few dealers and continued to bale tires as they arrived on my ranch. It was about this time the harassing and threatening letters once again started coming to me. I decided I had no choice, but to hire a lawyer, as I seemed to be getting nowhere myself. We appealed to the governor at this time. Another meeting was arranged to which the state agreed to let me finish my project. A letter was sent to governor Hoeven asking for help. (click here to see letter)
The state also about this time started urging me to start a landfill on my property (which I still maintain is a ridiculous way to dispose of a reusable product). I agreed to a meeting with the township, Spirit Lake Tribe, and the state to discuss this subject. At the meeting it was discussed and determined (basically by our township chairman) that I could landfill tires, but only if they were baled first. Since I had many other uses and ideas for my tire bales the issue went no further. Apparently the state did not like this at all as it is about this time they decided to take action against me.
On January or February 2004 the state called and asked if they could meet me at my ranch. I told them sure, as I has always done up to this point. Again I stated that anyone was clearly welcomed anytime to my ranch. Two workers from the state arrived one morning and I invited them in, made some coffee and we sat at our dining room table. We discussed the passing away of one of their wives from cancer. One of them made a comment about our cute little girl. I told them we homeschooled our children and we discussed other things. The state employees then began questioning me on my tire fence plans. I eagerly informed them further on my intensive grazing plan, as I had applied for and was approved for cost sharing from the US Gov. through our local ASCS office. (See cost sharing agreement) The cost sharing would help cover the cost of seeding farm land back to alfalfa for grazing. It also helped cover the cost of a new well and thousands of feet of water lines to the paddocks. The paddocks would be used for intensive and/or rotational grazing. We discussed this along with many other things. They took notes during our discussion, although I should have questioned why they were doing this, I did not. After an extensive questioning, the state apparently had enough evidence to take serious action. Then they politely thanked me for my hospitality and informed me that I would be receiving a letter in a few days informing me of the course of action they planned to pursue. The state also informed me at this time that I probably wouldn’t agree with or necessary like their decision. It was about this time I realized I had made a grave mistake of trusting the state. And was I right!
Within a few days I received a letter from the state requesting the discontinue transportation of any new tires to my property, the discontinue construction of any new fences or structures (bale or otherwise), plus a plan for the removal of all fences, bales, or loose tires on my property. After receiving the letter at which I was outraged, I informed my attorney that I was done cooperating with the state and that they would never step foot on my property again. My attorney told me he understood, but that it wasn’t quite as simple as that. I was informed that this was probably just the beginning of enforcement action, which could get very difficult for me and my family (all this because I came up with an idea for taking a supposedly useless product and turning it into a fence for my livestock). I later received a letter from my attorney of the potential problems I would face if I refused to cooperate or respond to the state. Frustrated and at wits end, I asked what the next step was. I was informed that we would end up in front of an administrative law judge who would determine if what I was doing on my ranch was beneficial or not. This actually excited me as I mistakenly thought all I would have to do now is to show everything I had done with tires on my ranch and the outcome would undoubtedly be that what I was doing was very beneficial as I had pictures, maps, ASCS cost sharing agreements, etc. Wrong again! The first thing I was told is that I’d get a letter asking for information to be used against me in court. No problem I thought, as I believed I had done nothing wrong. This information would be brought to a deposition hearing. I agreed to go forward and I could not believe what happened next.
I received a letter from the state stating they wanted 15 years of records, including every receipt for every tire ever picked up. They also wanted 15 years of tax records, 15 years of farm and business records, records of everything I’d ever done in the last 15 years. I wondered what this had to do with building a fence. By now, on the verge of a mental and physical breakdown, I called my sister who is an attorney in California and asked her about this. She informed me that what the state was doing is part of the legal game. I was told that the game is to demoralize and financially bankrupt the adversary. She asked why I couldn’t work out something with the state. I informed her that I’d done nothing wrong and that one must stand up for their principles sometime. She told me to get over my principles as they didn’t mean anything anymore. While I didn’t agree, I didn’t know what to do anymore. So I called the state and informed them I was broke, that I could no longer fight them and asked what they expected and wanted of me. We arranged a meeting in Bismarck to which I drove to discuss possibilities.
At the meeting I informed them that I would be picking several thousand tires up as I had enrolled one farm into the Wetland Reserve Program, which required the fences be picked up as part of our 30 year easement. I informed the state that I would be using the tires for subgrade in a road I was building, to which one immediately replied , "That sounds like a beneficial use to me!" He later in court denied ever saying this, but it doesn’t change the fact that he did say this. It just supports their out of site out of mind policy in my book. After realizing that my plan was to pick up over half of the tire fences on my property (this is to be done on my own, not with the forceful action of any state bureaucracy) they said I could use the remainder of my fences for my livestock if I put up a $150,000 bond whether in cash or land equity. Since I had neither and wouldn’t do it even if I had the money, our negotiations ended.
I ignored the whole situation for a while until one day I was informed that my entire ranch could be taken away if I continued to do nothing. I informed my attorney that I would do the deposition and show up with what records I have. I informed the attorney general that I had had no records to give them as I didn’t keep any. This did not make the state very happy, now that they would not have the records to go after the dealers who had furnished me with tires (Even if I end up in jail I will never shift my state perceived problem to the dealers, who entrusted me to take their scrap tires) and make them liable for my tire fences. Before I go any further I would like to thank all the tire dealers in ND and MN who provided me with tires for my recycling project. I want to insure all of you that you will never be ratted on from me or my family for the sake of saving our own hides!
After being informed of the time and date of the hearing my attorney and I arrived at the hearing room for testimony and questions to start at 9:00 a.m. The state expert witnesses consisted of an epidemiologist, a state vet, a solid waste consultant, a solid waste bureaucrat, and one of the state health department employees. The hearing started out with the state paid judge giving an overview of what this entire hearing was to be about. Everyone agreed the entire battle was about whether what I was doing was beneficial or not. My heart leapt. This was going to be simple as I felt that with all the pictures and documentation I had it would be easy to show beneficial use. Well we listened for a day and a half on all the evils of mosquitoes and fires caused by tires. Although not one of the so called expert witnesses had ever set foot on my place they rattled on for hours about mosquito borne diseases and giant tire fires across the US. At one point the judge asked one of them if with all the water in my area he believed the tires would make any difference even if they were all full of water. The witness said he couldn’t answer that. At that point I got excited as I now realized even the judge saw how stupid the mosquito issue was. Wrong again. We got to listen to one witness, excuse me, expert witness from down south somewhere talk about all the tire fires on the desert prairie. From what I could tell they were all mountains of tires numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Why hundreds of thousands of tires are piled like this is beyond me. When asked if he’d seen pictures of my place he said yes and replied that it was nothing but a giant garbage dump. (I wish he could come up some spring and watch the life of a baby lamb being spared because he huddled along a tire fence for wind protection and warmth.) That’s not what the state hired him to do though. His job was to make me out as an evil polluting, disease causing, worthless bum! He did a pretty good job of it. I’m glad the 15 people from Minco Township weren’t there or they’d be running for their lives right now!
I almost called my wife to tell her to get out with the kids as quickly as possible as he stressed the damage and dangers of what one million tires burning uncontrollably could do. I then remembered that my fences were in single rows and that I had no prairie grass near me. I immediately calmed down upon realizing this.
Next came the expert mosquito guy, the state vet, another so called expert solid waste bureaucrat and finally one of North Dakota's health department employees. The state health department employee presented a picture of something that looked like a grasshopper and said it was a mosquito caught on film from my evil Ranch. They managed to catch one grasshopper, excuse me, mosquito (in the prairie pothole capital of North America) on film in 10 years. The really good thing about this is I’m sure if they ever run out of meaningful things to do here in the state of ND they should be able to get work with the FBI
. He then testified that he never saw more than a couple of animals on my farm (by last count, I have run over 7000 head of hogs, cattle, and sheep through this place since starting my tire recycling project). (The state has only ever been on my place 4 times in 10 years, that I’m aware of). In his testimony I was continuously referred to as a sham recycler. I had all I could do to remain seated as I do not appreciate being lied about. (Why in the world would I go through all this work to fake recycling when all I would have had to do is get a permit from the state, dig holes, and bury tires?) When asked why a permit was issued for another 10 years in 2000, the state health department employee said he believed it was an oversight and a mistake on his department’s behalf. He also testified that I had always been cooperative in letting him and other officials from his department come on my ranch until after their last visit in February 2003, at which time I became uncooperative (duh, I wonder why?). He said I must be trying to hide something as I would no longer let anyone from his department on my ranch. Hey, Mr. state worker, invite me into your home, give me coffee, and a little hospitality, and when I leave I’ll take away your livelihood, your money, your food, insurance, and make you sell every thing you own. Then the next time I call you I’ll expect you to welcome me with open arms (these guys are beyond belief in my opinion).
One of the charges against me was hauling tires to an unpermitted facility (although no permit is needed for beneficial use). We called the owner of Waste Management (Bismarck, ND) to testify, as we knew that while he was taking in and landfilling millions of tires he did not have a permitted facility. He testified that although he handled tires from across the US not one ever touched the ground at his facility exempting him from needing a permit. Did he actually make this up or was he coached a bit? He stated he charged $1.50 per tire to pick them up and that it cost him about $1.00 per tire just to transport them to Bismarck before he magically got the tires through his facility without even touching the floor and then dispose of them in his state approved landfill (by the way, there were several complaints recently about Waste Management’s landfilling of tires near Bismarck, since there are millions of dollars worth of homes next to their dump ground. In meeting with and talking to one of the residents I was told that the state’s response was that this landfill was grandfathered in and there was nothing they could do about it. Isn’t it amazing how state comes to save the 15 people living in Minco Township without any of them ever filing a complaint, but there is nothing they can do about a dump next to 50,000 people) He was then asked by the state if he had ever seen or had any experiences with tire fences. His response was, "Only once." He said the tires were so full of manure and water that his workers, after getting dressed in protective gear, refused to touch them because of fear for their lives (do you suppose he could have been coached into saying this?) I actually had all I could do to keep from laughing out loud. The state also referred to Dave Barth (owner of waste management, Bismarck ND) as a legitimate scrap tire recycler. (See document) Since Barth disposes of scrap tires by landfilling them, it really shows how much the state really knows about recycling. To actually call the landfilling of tires recycling and the processing of tires into fences a sham is unbelievable!
The next day, after a couple more hours of expert testimony for the state, it was my turn to testify on my behalf. Since I was the only witness for my defense it did not take long. I testified mostly to what I’ve previously mentioned in this story along with a few other things. I testified to how well the fences worked. I talked about the different projects I had tried over the years (most worked well, with an occasional failure) (click here to see picture). I testified to the fact that if a fence were to ever start on fire it would be easy to control as all I had to do was break a path in the fence either by hand or with a tractor. I testified that I had offered to do mosquito and fires tests on my ranch, but the state refused. I testified that I had done a comparison study between my ranch and 2 different neighbor’s, both of who were witnesses to the experiment. We set mosquito traps at my place and theirs simultaneously. In the morning we counted dead mosquitoes. In both cases the count at their residence’s was double mine. If mosquitoes are such a problem at my ranch shouldn’t I have had more mosquitoes? Of course this study was just done by us dumb hicks and not experts so it didn’t weigh up, I’m sure. I testified to my increasing stocking rates 25 times normal in my experiment, (I know plenty of ranchers that would say having one acre produce the same as 25 would be quite beneficial), along with all the cost sharing the government was doing to help with my project. I testified I did not believe there would ever be any problems selling a farm that had increased stocking rates many times the average. I stated that I had run thousand of head of livestock through my tire fences and that they worked wonderful. I explained the baling of tires and what an awesome corral they made. I explained as to why the state was never welcome on my place again. I showed permits from our township and the Spirit Lake Tribe. I presented documents from our county states attorney stating that he had not ever received a complaint about me or my operation (click here for document). I presented a sworn statement from our township chairman stating that I abided by all regulations set forth by the township (click here for document). I also testified to the 2 complaints the state had as evidence against me. One from an ex-friend who spent the better part of the last 10 years in jail with the other complaint from someone who actually addressed the letter to himself (I wonder how this happened). The judge even picked up on this and questioned it. It seems to me with all the supposed complaints against me that the state should have been able to come up with something better than these two. (How come no one is bothering to complain to the local authorities, but go straight to the state?) The states attorney then questioned me on my knowledge of intensive grazing, insinuating my lawyer had just given me the information presented. He quickly dropped the subject when he realized I knew what I was talking about. After hammering away at my character and telling the judge that nothing I said could be believed and some closing arguments the hearing ended. Sitting there listening to the state questioning my honesty and calling me a sham recycler was hard to take. In the end it didn’t matter.
With no expert witness on my behalf (I don’t count as I only live and work with these fences, livestock, and people) and overwhelming state paid expert witnesses testifying about the dangers of fire from a prairie that doesn’t exist (it’s all farmland surrounding me), to the mosquito danger caused from waterfilled tires that don’t exist, to the fact that 15 people may be affected someday if the water doesn’t all evaporate and mosquitoes learn to travel over a mile from where they are hatched, (forget that we live in the pothole capitol of north America), the evidence was just too much. The judge ruled against me and my family and we have now appealed to district court. It would seem to me that the state would have to at a minimum prove that I have a potential or on-going problem, but since they have refused to even do an environmental study on my ranch no one will ever know if I have a problem or not, now will they? Our family is now broke from fighting this. We have dropped all of our insurance, sold most of our equipment and have the rest up for sale. We are now looking for work. All this because of an idea for a low cost way to build fence with a waste product.
If you feel that what we are doing with scrap tires here at TIRED-OUT RANCH is a beneficial use and believe this is an example of an out of control government, please contact governor@state.nd.us or call (701) 328-2200 and let him know. Your support would be greatly appreciated. I was recently told by Governor Hoeven's office there is nothing they can do to help us!
Isn’t it ironic that the state, claiming someday these fences will have to be picked up, have themselves brought this about with their meddling in my business. I have been informed that any action by the state against me will carry on to any party wishing to purchase my property making my property virtually worthless. So to sum it up, the state deciding on it’s own that my tires fences are not beneficial have devalued my property by over $300,000 (640 acres). I have been told that we have no recourse for the damage done to our family by the state's action. It probably doesn't matter since our next step (and most likely last) is district court which I have been informed is most likely a waste of more time and money. We do not get to argue our case over again. All we can argue is that the last judge errored in some way. No jury by my peers no evidence supporting my use of tires for fences, just another judge deciding if the first judge did anything wrong. (Sounds fair to me) If enforcement action by the state materializes, my land will be taken by force and auctioned off to help cover the cost of tire fence removal. The tires will be removed at a cost of $300,000 (See letter) according to Dave Barth (owner of waste management). The tires will most likely be landfilled by a legitimate recycler
(according to the state) such as Dave Barth.
Just a note addressing the states ongoing claim that the tire fences will have to eventually be removed. My question is why? One of the reasons I built my fences out of tires in the first place is the durability factor. According to science a tire will last indefinitely used in the manner such as I have done. So if I have constructed a fence that will last forever and have increased my stocking rate many times over normal why will my fences eventually have to be removed? Intensive grazing nationwide is growing rapidly as the concept allows a family to potentially make a good living from small acreage (Heaven knows we don't need to lose any more farmers) So if the potential is there to make a living from 200 acres verses 5000 why would the state discourage this? Ignorance I guess.
For anyone interested in intensive grazing the most informative publication out there is the Stockman Grassfarmer. For more information go to www.stockmangrassfarmer.com.
Please email us with your comments good or bad as we would appreciate your view. Cory55sheep@gmail.com
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