Staff & Steering Committee
The steering committee is made up of 10 individuals. Nine positions are to be filled through election (3 annually), and the lead organization’s executive director serves in an ex-officio role.
Our Team
Steering committee members are asked to represent the best interests of SDGI’s mission and its partners based on their own knowledge, skills and experiences, rather than serving as a representative of the organization, agency, business or association with which they are employed or work with. When possible, nominations for steering committee members will reflect diversity in gender, culture, experiences, and geographic location.
Laura Kahler
Director
Laura serves as the director of the South Dakota Grasslands Coalition. Her background is in agricultural education and project management. She ranches with her family in Tripp County, raising commercial cattle, Targhee sheep, red wattle hogs and pasture poultry.
Favorite grassland species: Big Bluestem
Angela Ehlers
Favorite grassland species:
Jim Faulstich
Jim and his wife Carol live on Daybreak Ranch in Central South Dakota. The ranch that Jim has spent his entire life on is primarily a cow calf operation but has several diverse enterprises including two hunting operations. He has been a longtime advocate for proper land use and grassland and wetlands. Jim is on several conservation boards in South Dakota including the South Dakota Grassland Coalition.
Favorite grassland species: Big Bluestem
Pete Bauman
Pete is serves as the SDSU Extension Natural Resources Management Field Specialist out of the Watertown Field Office and works directly with landowners and partners to encourage the future of grasslands on the landscape through sound management. Bauman recently led a multi-partner effort to inventory South Dakota’s last remaining native grasslands. He grew up on a small farm near Delano, MN and raises a small herd of grassfed beef with his wife and kids.
Favorite grassland species: native sages, grouse, and mule deer
Judge Jessop
Judge is the Executive Director for the SD Grassland Coalition (SDGLC). Judge started with the SDGLC as a project coordinator for the Coalition’s 319 grant in 2001. Judge, along with his family, runs a small cow herd on the family farm near Presho, SD.
Favorite grassland species: Western Wheatgrass
Josh Lefers
Joshua is the working lands program manager for Audubon Great Plains, overseeing grassland conservation programs in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska, from an office in Corsica, SD. He grew up on a farm near Corsica, and currently operates a small ranching operation in the area.
Favorite grassland species: Downy gentian, silky aster
Kurt Forman
Kurt has worked in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Fish and Wildlife (PFW) program for 30 years in South Dakota and has served as the State PFW Coordinator since 2002. Over the past 30 years the South Dakota PFW program has had the opportunity to partner with landowners to jointly deliver over 7,000 grassland and wetland conservation projects on private land throughout the state. Kurt grew up on a small farm in southern Minnesota and has lived in Brookings since 1994 with his family.
Favorite grassland species: Mallard
Ryan Wendinger
Ryan has worked for South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks for over 15 years in various habitat positions and currently is the department’s Habitat Program Administrator. He grew up on a farm in southern Minnesota and has lived and worked in South Dakota since graduating from SDSU with a Wildlife and Fisheries degree.
Favorite grassland species: Pasque Flower / Indiangrass
Shaun Grassel
Shaun Grassel serves as the Chief Executive Officer for Buffalo Nations Grassland Alliance. Shaun brings a wealth of experience, having worked as a wildlife biologist for the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe for nearly 25 years. Shaun also has worked for the Nez Perce Tribe Fisheries Program and the First Nations Development Institute. Shaun’s experience includes project development, fundraising, research, advocacy, and program administration. Shaun lives on the Lower Brule Indian Reservation where he spends his free time hunting, fishing, and raising cattle and native grasses for seed production. Shaun has two children, Michael and Zoe, who are members of the Nez Perce Tribe.
Favorite grassland species: Sideoats grama
Tate Lantz
Tate Lantz was born in Winner, South Dakota and grew up on a cow-calf ranch. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Range Science from South Dakota State University. He began working for the Natural Resources Conservation Service after graduation and has been with the Agency ever since. He has served as a Rangeland Management Specialist in Eastern and Western South Dakota. Tate is currently the Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations out of the Rapid City Field Support Office with responsibilities for 16 Field Offices and 2 Tribal Offices in Western South Dakota. Tate has worked with many partners across the grassland biome as well as landowner/operators to provide insight to the importance of the grassland ecosystem. Tate is also active in the South Dakota Grassland Coalition and the Society for Range Management.
Favorite grassland species: Sideoats Grama
Tony Leif
Tony became the first Executive Director of South Dakota Agricultural Land Trust in 2020 after a 32-year career at SD Department of Game, Fish and Parks with 12 years as Director of the GFP Wildlife Division. Tony’s commitment to the mission of the SD Grassland Alliance is rooted in his dedication to conservation along with his recognition of the paramount value of agriculture and the agricultural heritage of his home state. He and his wife, Kandee have four children and four grandchildren.
Favorite grassland species: The musical chatter of a breeding bobolink is his favorite indicator of a healthy great plains grassland.