Rancher cited for land-clearing violations
In what it's calling its largest violation, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection has cited a cattle rancher in Milbridge for bulldozing more than eight acres of wildlife habitat.
George Rippere of Coyote Creek Farm has been cited for violating the state's Natural Resources Protection Act for removing vegetation along Beaver Meadow Brook, the Bangor Daily News reported. Rippere is required to immediately mulch the distributed area and file for an after-the-fact permit. DEP and Rippere are still negotiating a consent agreement, but Jonathan Cullen of the DEP expected Rippere would face a fine of an unknown amount. Cullen said land use violations are assessed fines ranging from between $100 and $1,000 per day, beginning on the day the violations are discovered, in this case Oct. 6, and accumulating until the violations are resolved. Rippere told the paper he believed he acted per regulation because he submitted paperwork to the Maine Forest Service to change the land use from a woodlot to pasture.
Rippere sells beef and pork through local farmers' markets, the Internet and local supermarkets, according to the paper.
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