DRA Chapters

"We are a local organization giving people a voice
and common vision to improve the lives
of present and future generations through
education, leadership and community involvement
while preserving our heritage and freedom."
– WPAG Mission Statement

The Western Plains Action Group (WPAG) chapter has membership in Perkins, Harding, and Corson Counties. In the late 1990s, DRA members in the northwestern part of South Dakota formed a group in order to work on common issues. 

That group ultimately organized into the first DRA chapter in western South Dakota. WPAG is one of DRA’s most active chapters, working on issues ranging from property rights to local foods. In 2008, the WPAG chapter facilitated a series of informational meetings for landowners potentially impacted by the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. 

This pipeline will transverse the chapter area and continue on through western South Dakota. Now, a new state-wide issue campaign has emerged and affected landowners are working cohesively to draft easement agreements that will protect their land and livelihoods.

The newest active campaign that WPAG is working on is education and complete withdrawal from USDA’s discarded National Animal ID System.The campaign includes helping producers find out whether they have been registered as a premises in the national NAIS database and how to have their names removed.

Chapter Leadership:

Chairperson - Llewellyn Englehart

Vice Chair - Lynn Frey

Secretary - Karen Englehart

Treasurer - Corinne Erickson

Board Rep - Darwin Oliver and Ethan Wiechmann

For more information, contact Stephanie Trask, Organizer in the Rapid City Field Office of DRA, at 605.697.5204 or 605.718.4957.