In recent years, the Clean Water Act has been the subject of a tug of war between environmentalists, industry, regulators and politicians.

The U.S. is covered in vast amounts of rural farm and ranch land. But as urban sprawl continues to stretch farther out and develop rural lands, landowners want to preserve their property from such expansion.

Since the 1800s, Texas has been an open-range state – meaning it is not mandatory for livestock owners to fence in their livestock to prevent them from roaming. Livestock that wanders onto the land belonging to another are not classified as trespassers, and owners are not responsible for any damages caused by the livestock. However, local county ordinances and U.S. state highways may modify the common law.

One of the most sensitive subjects in neighbor relations for landowners concerns the removal of trees and brush along property lines. While cutting brush and trees on one’s own land may seem simple, the matter becomes more complicated when the brush and trees lie along property lines or result from overhanging plants and trees from neighboring property.

Given their rich state history, most Texans think of their home as being open range – meaning animals are allowed to “roam at large.” Said another way, it is a “fence out” state, so landowners must put up sufficient fences if they want to prevent animals from roaming across their land.

The old adage, “Good fences make good neighbors” is still applicable in today’s society. Across the U.S., there are thousands of miles of fences, and the vast majority of these fences are located along boundary lines between landowners or along state or U.S. roadways.