Our Board

Steven W. Sanford

Steven Sanford is a founding Director and currently President of NPLT.  Since 1974, he has been a practicing lawyer in the Sioux Falls law firm of Cadwell Sanford Deibert & Garry LLP.  In addition to a busy law practice [see www.cadlaw.com/attorneys], he has also spent his working life active in various other charitable and nonprofit organizations.  He is a founder, a 29 year Director and long-time Chair of Great Bear Recreational Park, Inc. [the nonprofit Operator of the City’s Great Bear Ski Valley].  He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Washington Pavilion Management, Inc, the nonprofit manager of the City’s Washington Pavilion and Orpheum Theater, and is the chief lay officer of the Episcopal Church in South Dakota.  He is formerly the Chair of the South Dakota Board of Trustees of The Nature Conservancy, and a director of the Sioux Falls High School Foundation, South Dakota Humanities Council, 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 affectionate wandering in the Missouri River National Recreational River corridor, the Nebraska Sandhills, and the Niobrara River and its tributaries in Nebraska.

James E. Rogers

James Rogers, born in Omaha, Nebraska, spent his childhood fishing, camping, and earning his Eagle Scout badge in Nebraska, Missouri, Idaho and Pennsylvania, and 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 returned to the Title Resource Network as General Counsel. In June of 2015, James accepted a position with CoBank, ACB, based in Greenwood Village, CO. He currently serves as a Corporate Attorney responsible the end-to-end processing and documentation of various loan transactions and collateral matters for customers of the Wichita Banking Center.

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, and currently serves as their board secretary. 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.

Ryan Donovan

Ryan Donovan is the Vice President of Business Development for Avera Health in Sioux Falls, SD.  As an outdoorsman and lifelong resident of South Dakota, Ryan has a passion for the community and our precious natural resources.  He attended the University of South Dakota, has an Associate’s degree from Southeast Technical Institute, and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Sioux Falls.  He is currently enrolled in the master’s program at Dakota Wesleyan University.  In addition to raising two gorgeous daughters, he is also on the following boards: East Dakota Water Development District (Director of Region 7), The Banquet in Sioux Falls, Friends of the Big Sioux River (Chair), United Way At-Risk Youth/Youth Outreach Team (Co-Chair), Northern Prairies Land Trust, and the Big Sioux Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Travis Entenman

Growing up in northern Idaho and then the northern plains in South Dakota left Travis with a deep desire to leave the natural world better than he found it. The idea of future generations not having the experience of playing in nature like he did as a child imparted a sense of responsibility to minimize the impacts of human activities. This drives him to conserve our native prairies and clean our watersheds by educating the community on the importance of having an conservation ethic. He is passionate about bucking the status quo and discovering what is possible when we give a damn.

Travis has a B.S. in Advertising from South Dakota State University and a Masters in Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont Law School. Travis and his wife, Hannah, live in Sioux Falls with their first child on the way and a dog named Ralph.

Ross Wright

Ross Wright is a lifelong resident of South Dakota. Ross grew up in Pierre, where he spent countless hours hunting, fishing, camping, and boating along the Missouri River. He now calls Sioux Falls home where he lives with his wife and 4 children. Ross currently serves as a board member of the Friends of the Big Sioux River and he is a partner with the law firm of Lynn, Jackson, Shultz & Lebrun where he focuses his practice on representing plaintiffs in personal injury matters.   

Brian Meiers