- Board of Directors -

JOHN H. DAVIDSON  is an attorney,retired from teaching at the University of South Dakota School of Law., and has a career-long association with land and water conservation.  He and his family have lived on a South Dakota farm since 1973, enjoying a close involvement with the agricultural community.

STEVEN W. SANFORD, a lawyer since 1974, is a partner in the Sioux Falls law firm of Cadwell Sanford Deibert & Garry LLP.  He is admitted to the South Dakota Bar, the United States District Courts of South Dakota and Nebraska, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.  He is a graduate of the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee (B.A. English 1970) and the University of South Dakota (J.D. 1974).  He has served as an adjunct professor at the University of South Dakota School of Law and is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, the American College of Trial Lawyers, and the American Bar Foundation, all honorary organizations dedicated to improvement of the legal system.  He has authored numerous articles and has been a frequent speaker for the ABA Litigation, ABA Commercial Financial Services Committee, ABA National Institute on Agricultural & Agri-Business Finance, the American Bankers Association, Agricultural Banking Division, the State Bar of South Dakota and the South Dakota Trial Lawyers Association.  He has also spent his working life active in various charitable and nonprofit organizations.  He is a founding director and the treasurer of Northern Prairies Land Trust, president of the South Dakota High School Foundation, director and chair of Great Bear Recreational Park, Inc. (nonprofit operator of Great Bear Ski Area) and formerly the Chair of the South Dakota Board of Trustees of The Nature Conservancy, and formerly a director of the Sioux Falls Community Playhouse, Sioux Empire United Way and the South Dakota Children’s Home Society.  Steve is married and has two grown children.  His particular conservation interests grow out of decades of affection for the Missouri National Recreational River corridor and the Niobrara River and its tributaries in Nebraska. (thoughts from the Treasurer)

A. J. SWANSON, born February 12, 1947, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  Graduated Canton High School (Canton, South Dakota) 1965; University of South Dakota (Vermillion, South Dakota) 1969 (B.A. History); University of South Dakota School of Law, 1972 (J.D.).  Admitted to practice Nebraska Supreme Court, 1972; South Dakota Supreme Court, 1980; United States Courts of Appeal, D.C. and Eighth Circuits; United States District Courts, Districts of Nebraska and South Dakota.  Married to Sally Ann Myers, 1969.  Engaged in the practice of law at Lincoln Nebraska, 1972-1979, with emphasis on transportation regulatory issues and administrative law (Acklie & Peterson; Peterson, Bowman, Coffman & Larsen; and Peterson, Bowman, Swanson & Johanns), and at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 1979 to 2004, a general corporate and business law practice (Quaintance & Swanson; Swanson Hughes & Perrenoud; and Arvid J. Swanson P.C.), with particular interest in land use and zoning law. Law office is now located on great-grandparent’s homestead (1870), bordered by the Big Sioux River a few miles southeast of Sioux Falls, amidst a 300-acre tallgrass prairie restoration project. Prescribed burning practices are followed for control of invasive species.  Since 1999, Director and Secretary, Northern Prairies Land Trust, a §501(c)(3) non-profit corporation engaged in conservation easement and preservation efforts in South Dakota and Nebraska.

PATRICK ANDERSON became Northern Prairies’ Executive Director in May, 2005, and is initiating a number of new projects, as well as managing continuing programs. Prior to joining Northern Prairies, he was an attorney in private practice in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with an emphasis on environmental issues, and experience as a mediator for the SD Farm Mediation Program. He has also worked for a variety of governmental agencies at the state and local levels. He grew up in Minnesota where he attended Braham High School and graduated in 1973. He attended and graduated from the Gustavus Adolphus College (St. Peter, MN) in 1977. After a brief stint in the insurance industry, he entered William Mitchell College of Law (St. Paul, MN) in 1979 and graduated in 1983. He married Kirsten Erickson in 1980 and they have two daughters, Erika and Nicole. They moved to Sioux Falls in 1983 where Pat worked with the Minnehaha County State's Attorney's Office. In 1985, they moved their family to Albuquerque, New Mexico where Pat worked for the Bernalillo County District Attorney (Albuquerque, NM) for one year and the State of New Mexico Environmental Improvement Division (Santa Fe, NM) as an Assistant Attorney General for two years. In 1988, they moved back to Sioux Falls, where Pat worked for the state's attorney's office and the Sioux Falls City Attorney's Office. While at the City Attorney's Office, he was responsible for code enforcement and environmental regulations, as well as city compliance with federal and state mandates. In 1991, Pat entered private practice with a specialty in environmental law, and later expanded to include mediation services.

"Growing up in the Midwest makes it easy to love the outdoors" explains Anderson, who is originally from Minnesota and has lived the last eighteen years in Sioux Falls. He enjoys all sorts of outdoor activities, especially tramping through prairies and swamps in pursuit of wily roosters and is passionate about protecting our natural resources. "I strongly believe that the greatest gift we can give our children is protection of the natural state of the wonderful world in which we live."

JAMES E. ROGERS, born June 24, 1977 in Omaha, Nebraska. Spent his childhood fishing, camping, and earning his Eagle Scout badge in Nebraska, Missouri, Idaho and Pennsylvania. Graduated the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1999 with a degree in Forestry, Fisheries and Wildlife. Graduated the Vermont Law School, cum laude, with a Masters in Environmental Law in 2002. Graduated the University of South Dakota School of Law in 2002. Was the Editor-in-Chief of the Great Plains Natural Resources Journal, in which he also had two articles published. Spent a year in Des Moines, IA, clerking for the Fifth Judicial District. Then spent 4 years in Sioux Falls, SD, as the General Counsel for the Title Resource Network, First Dakota Title, focusing primarily on title insurance underwriting decisions.

In October of 2007, he moved back to Omaha, NE, and, after a brief stint working as a Claims Attorney for LandAmerica, where he oversaw title insurance policy coverage determinations and case handling, he has returned to his position of General Counsel with the Title Resource Network. In June of 2015, James accepted a position with CoBank, ACB, based in Greenwood Village, CO. As Senior Manager for Collateral, James oversees the perfection and maintenance of the bank’s real and personal property collateral liens.

James is also a graduate of the School of Fly-fishing and The Leader's Institute. He is a member of the Cherry Creek Anglers Chapter of Trout Unlimited. James, along with his wife Becky, son, Graydon, and daughter, Ellie, enjoy spending a great deal of time in the Rocky Mountains, fly-fishing, skiing, and enjoying all that the mountains have to offer.

GREGG GREENFIELD is Northern Prairies’ newest director.  Gregg is a partner in the Sioux Falls law firm of Boyce, Greenfield, Pashby and Welk, LLP. He is a member of the State Bar of South Dakota and the American Bar Association, and has extensive experience in the areas of real estate, environmental law and closely held businesses, as well as experience in legislative and legal issues relating to water development and brownfield properties.  He is a former board member and chairman of the South Dakota Board of Natural Resources (1996 – 2004).  Current memberships include South Dakota Auto Dealers Association, South Dakota Trucking Association, and National Association of Dealer Council. He is presently on the First Lutheran Church Council, and has served on the Volunteers of America Board of Directors.
Gregg attended George Washington University, graduating with distinction in 1985, and the University of South Dakota School of Law, earning his J.D. in 1989. He is an avid outdoorsman and especially loves archery hunting for turkey, deer and elk. Gregg and his wife Julie make their home in Sioux Falls and are the parents of two boys.

BLAYNE HAGEN graduated from the University of Minnesota with a B.S. in Environment and Natural Resources. During her time as an undergraduate student, Blayne spent time in the field and working with community leaders in St. Paul to create a plan to maximize green space in their community. She studied abroad in Costa Rica and Australia, studying sustainable forestry and conservation management and learned to scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef. After graduating, Blayne worked at the nation’s largest nonprofit recycling organization, Eureka Recycling in Saint Paul, MN, where she came to appreciate that waste is preventable. She returned to her love of the outdoors and scuba diving by spending a year conducting fish and coral reef surveys on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef in Mahahual, Mexico. After this international adventure, Blayne returned home with a new appreciation for the seemingly ocean-like, rolling prairies of South Dakota. Blayne attended the University of South Dakota School of Law where she focused her studies on environmental law and property issues. During law school, she served as an Intern to the Honorable Karen E. Schreier, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota and as Lead Articles Editor for the South Dakota Law Review. Her article on a property rights issue surrounding carbon sequestration was published by the journal, and she was awarded a Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation scholarship based in part on this work. She graduated law school in 2011 with Sterling Honors. Following law school, Blayne served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Roger L. Wollman of the Eighth Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals. Blayne is now Corporate Counsel at Sanford Health.

- Northern Prairies Staff -

KENT PFEIFFER has worked for Northern Prairies in the Beatrice office since 2006. He had worked as the land manager at the Platte River Whooping Crane Habitat Maintenance Trust for twelve years prior to that. Initially, Kent served as a Project Biologist working with Jarren Kuipers. After Jarren left for Wyoming in 2009, Kent became Program Manager, supervising the Nebraska staff of NPLT. Kent has a B.S. in wildlife biology from University of Nebraska - Kearney and a M.S. in biology from Kansas State University. Kent and his wife, Rebecca, live in Beatrice and have two children, Olivia and Wyatt.

KELLY CORMAN joined our staff in summer 2013 as a Coordinating Wildlife Biologist in north-central Nebraska. Kelly grew up on a farm and cattle operation near Edgar, NE. He graduated from University of Nebraska – Lincoln in 2007, earning a B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife. In 2011, Kelly earned an M.S. in Range and Wildlife Management from Texas A&M University – Kingsville studying landscape and conservation genetics of lesser prairie-chickens. Before joining our team, Kelly worked for Bird Conservancy of the Rockies and the Natural Resources Conservation Service in southeast Colorado, assisting landowners to conserve lesser prairie-chicken habitat. Since 2013 he has been working with ranchers and other landowners to implement projects to restore and enhance prairies and other habitat associated with at-risk species primarily in the Middle Niobrara and Keya Paha landscapes. Kelly enjoys spending time with family and friends, kayaking, and other outdoor activities.

KRISTA LANG grew up in the forests of western Oregon. She graduated from Oregon State University in 2006 with a B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Science. After various field jobs, she went onto pursue a M.S. in Wildlife Biology from Iowa State University, finishing in 2010. She moved to southeast Nebraska with her husband and started working for NPLT in early 2011 doing oak woodland restoration at Indian Cave State Park. She now uses her restoration knowledge from the park to help private landowners all across southeast Nebraska that are interested in restoring oak woodlands on their private properties.

CHANCE BRUEGGEMANN As a child originally living in Southern California, Chance's interest in the biological world was sparked by observing many marine biota while going to the beach. Later in life him and his family moved to Southeastern NE, where he attended Peru State College to earn his B.S. in Biology. Shortly after, he began working various local temporary positions for Nebraska Game and Parks, one of them being a woodland restoration project for Indian Cave State Park. This project is where his interests changed gears to the botanical world. In 2015 he joined the NPLT to continue working on the oak woodland restoration project at Indian Cave State Park and several others in Southeast NE. Chance enjoys being outdoors and educating himself on how to utilize the natural resources the land has to offer.

JAMES BAKER is a Conservation Technician based out of Ponca State Park in northeast Nebraska. His responsibilities include overseeing the oak woodland restoration in Ponca State Park and on multiple wildlife management areas. He also assists with restoration work on private lands. This work includes conducting controlled burns, the thinning of mid-canopy trees, and controlling invasive weeds, such as garlic mustard. James' work also includes the restoration of oak savanna and the conversion of crop fields to tallgrass prairie at Ponca State Park. This work includes conducting controlled burns, harvesting and planting native plants and controlling invasive weeds, such as canada thistle.

JAMIE BACHMANN received her B.S. in Biology and Environmental Studies at Wayne State College in 2004. She then worked on grassland song bird, pheasant and invertebrate surveys for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission in and around Stanton County, Nebraska until 2006. In 2008 Jamie began working as a Wildlife Education Assistant with the Nebraska Game and Parks and continued until she joined the Northern Prairies team in 2016. As a Wildlife Educator, Jamie facilitates Project WILD educator workshops and cultivates a love of outdoor Nebraska through interdisciplinary lessons and hands-on learning. She is grateful to have a position that allows her to see the awe and sense of wonder in so many young people when they connect to nature. Jamie lives on a small acreage near Norfolk with her husband and two sons. She is the caretaker of one dog, two cats, 14 hens, two beehives, 14 grass fed yearlings and the random feeder pig.