Oregon-based Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics sued Ray Underhill of Trigg County and Bobby Cunningham of Murray over subsidies they received for growing corn and soybeans over a two-year period in the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area.
However, Andy Stahl of FSEEE said they have filed an unopposed motion to dismiss because during the course of the Attorney General’s investigation, a “non-public” document was found that showed that an LBL employee had “authorized” the farmers to apply to the Farm Service Agency for crop subsidies.
“Although we continue to believe that the farmers lacked legally valid leases, which are a prerequisite for the crop subsidies, it is an uphill battle to make that case when the FS approved the subsidy applications,” Stahl said. “In other words, it’s tough to prove the farmers defrauded the federal government when the Forest Service was an active participant in the fraud.”
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