The Office of Resource and Civil Management has closed its review of farming on the Faded Lands strip and concluded that the ruined ground is the growers’ own fault. Its assessors, the office said, found the affected farms were not worked “in keeping with regional standards,” and it blamed the wilted fields and spoiled stores on “deficiencies in land stewardship and husbandry” rather than any regional cause. It again declined to declare an emergency, and ordered no relief. A spokesperson said the finding was “binding pending appeal.”