A 63-year-old man from Volga convicted of Disturbing Protected Wetlands of the United States has been sentenced in federal court.
Kevin Jay Mast was sentenced to 1 year unsupervised probation, a $100 fine and was ordered to comply with the restoration of the protected wetlands on his property.
Mast was convicted by a jury in January 2018. He appealed the conviction to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. The appellate court agreed with Mast and the case was remanded for trial, which was held in February 2020. Mast was found guilty again in May 2020.
The charge relates back to a 1973 easement voluntarily sold to the United States for waterfowl management rights. The easement prohibited the drainage
of any wetland areas on the property. In 2010, US Fish and Wildlife notified Mast his plan to install drain tile conflicted with the protected wetlands and would not be permitted. Despite the warning and without permission, Mast installed the drain tile in the fall of 2013.
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