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Hunter 12/29/23 Enrollment in Iowa's community colleges is rising. The state Department of Education's 2023 Fall Enrollment Report shows overall enrollment up

An important, centuries-old English charter that established commoners’ rights to use public lands cannot be cited to justify a Rolfe, Iowa, man’s contemporary theft of trees from a wildlife management

A northwest Iowa man, who was convicted last month of felony theft and 50 timber violations, argued that the Charter of the Forest of 1217, which established commoners’ rights to use public lands, applied to his case. The man admitted to cutting down and taking dozens of trees from a wildlife management area over the course of more than a year.

“The court finds that the English common law rights enumerated by the Charter of the Forest of 1217 do not apply to this case,” District Court Judge Derek Johnson wrote.

An important, centuries-old English charter that established commoners’ rights to use public lands cannot be cited to justify a Rolfe man’s contemporary theft of trees from a wildlife management area,