Niels Hansen, President

Niels is a third generation rancher from Rawlins Wyoming, the family ranch is a cow/calf/ yearling operation operating on the high desert of Wyoming.
Working cooperatively with the University of Wyoming and the BLM the ranch has collected over 20 years of monitoring data that supports the benefits of good land and livestock management for the livestock, the wildlife and the community.

Niels served as Chairman of the Wyoming State Grazing Board and President of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. In 2000, the ranch received the BLM Rangeland Management Stewardship Award and in 2004 was co-winner of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association Stewardship Award.

 

 

 

Mark Roeber, Vice President

Mark Roeber is the fourth generation on his family’s ranch in Paonio, Colorado, which was homesteaded in 1889 by his great grandfather. Mark and his wife Jody have a cow-calf operation that runs on both BLM and Forest Service land. His operation is a member of Homestead Meats. Homestead meats includes six local Colorado ranches that raise and harvest natural, high-quality meat.

Since 2012, Mark has been represented Delta County as country commissioner. Mark has been a serving member on the board of directors of Colorado Counties Inc. since 2016 and was the 2019 president of the board. Mark also serves as a member of the Southwest Colorado BLM Resource Advisory Committee, and has been active since 2014.

 

 

Steve Osguthorpe, Secretary

Steve was born and raised in Utah and has lived in Summit County since 1970. He attended Utah State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science and Minor in Chemistry. Steve and his wife Vickie have 7 children; 6 sons and 1 daughter and 18 grandchildren. Steve continues to work as a rancher. In addition to his family and his land, Steve participates in national, state, and local issues.

 

 

 

 

 

Brenda Richards, Treasurer

Brenda Richards runs a cow/calf operation in Reynolds Creek, Owyhee County, Idaho with her husband Tony where they manage 55,000 acres of public land. Brenda is a past-president of the Public Lands Council (2015-2016), and has served in various leadership roles across other associations including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the Idaho Cattle Association, and the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association.

Additionally, Brenda served on the Boise District Bureau of Land Management Resource Advisory Council for seven years and engages with the Owyhee Initiative, a multi-stakeholder group addressing management of public lands in southwest Idaho.

 

 

 

Bob Skinner, Immediate Past President

Bob and his wife Karen live in Jordan Valley, Oregon, where they raise cattle with their family—including their grandchildren, who represent the seventh generation on the ranch. On both local and national levels, Bob has been heavily involved in livestock and civic affairs, serving on numerous local, regional and state advisory boards and committees. In 2002, as the president of Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, he joined a round-table briefing for President George W. Bush on the state of the livestock industry. Bob has been a director or delegate of the Public Lands Council since 1990, is a charter member of the Board of Directors for the Western Resources Legal Center (WRLC); has won leadership and production awards from the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association and the Red Angus Association of America. Bob also holds leadership positions of importance outside of the livestock industry, including county advisory committees, the local ambulance board, the rural rangeland fire association, various local and university school boards and committees, and others. He earned his B.A. in Business Administration at the College of Idaho in Caldwell and holds a commercial pilot’s license, which allows him to fly a small plane over the ranch’s BLM and deeded ground to check water lines.

Board of Directors

Every national association affiliate and western state member has a Board member representative. Contact your State Affiliate here for contact information for the below Board members.

Emmett Sturgill – Arizona
Mike Byrne – California
Tim Canterbury – Colorado
Darcy Helmick – Idaho
Vicki Olson – Montana
Keith Winter – North Dakota
Ron Cerri – Nevada
Matt McElligott – Oregon
Frank Bloom – South Dakota
Jordan Willis – Utah
Sam Ledgerwood – Washington
Keith Hamilton – Wyoming

Bob Skinner (OR) – Immediate Past President
Shaun Sims (WY) – American Sheep Industry Association
Ross Nielsen (SD) – Association of National Grasslands
JJ Goicoechea (NV) – National Cattlemen’s Beef Association

Public Lands Council Committees Leadership

Grazing

  • Chair: Matt McElligott – Oregon
  • Vice Chair: Dan Anderson – South Dakota

Wildlife

  • Chair: Robbie LeValley – Colorado
  • Vice Chair: Jordan Willis – Utah

Multiple Use

  • Chair: Dr. J.J. Goicoechea – Nevada
  • Vice Chair: Tim Canterbury – Colorado

Industry Issues

  • Chair: Shaun Sims – Wyoming
  • Vice Chair: Vicki Olson – Montana

Ecosystem & Environment

  • Chair: Dr. Dave Daley – California
  • Vice Chair: Darcy Helmick – Idaho

PLC Staff

Executive Director: Kaitlynn Glover

Kaitlynn Glover serves as the Executive Director of the Public Lands Council and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Natural Resources. Prior to joining PLC in 2020, Kaitlynn served as a policy advisor on agriculture, natural resources, and Tribal policy issues in the United States Senate.

Before moving to Washington, Kaitlynn spent several years working for Teagasc, the agriculture semi-state authority in Ireland. During that time, she received a Masters of Agriscience in Innovation Support from University College Dublin in Dublin, Ireland.

Originally from Wyoming, Kaitlynn has a diverse background in agriculture policy and production, and strong ties to grazers, recreationalists, and many other users of public land resources. She is an alumna of the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture where she studied agriculture communications, international agriculture economics, and farm and ranch management.

Kaitlynn can be reached at kglover@beef.org, or at (202) 347-0228, ext. 9128.

Associate Director: Sigrid Johannes

Sigrid works as the Associate Director for the Public Lands Council and NCBA Natural Resources. Previously, she worked on the NCBA communications team and got hooked on the policy issues impacting federal grazing permittees. She is thrilled to be able to advocate for Western livestock producers in this new role.

After graduating from the College of Charleston in South Carolina, Sigrid did communications work for the U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee and U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger. She is originally from Washington, D.C.

Reach Sigrid at sjohannes@beef.org, or (202) 347-0228 ext. 9122.

 

 

Associate Director of Operations: Justyn Tedder

Raised on a ranch in the Hill Country of Texas, Justyn has long loved the ranching way of life. She graduated from Texas A&M University, where she studied Marketing Analytics in the Business Honors Program while also receiving her Graduate Certificate in Homeland Security. Justyn then moved to Washington, D.C., where she started working for DCI Group, handling government affairs within the energy sector.

Coming from 7 generations of cattle production in her family line, Justyn is proud and excited to be advocating for the people she loves most in her favorite city, our nation’s capital!

Reach Justyn at jtedder@beef.org, or (202) 347-0228 ext. 9135.