Western Plains Action Group
“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 Sabrina King, Organizer in the Rapid City Field Office of DRA, at 605.716.2200.
