OUR leadership
Our team of ranchers, conservationists, and community leaders are dedicated to improving the quality of life for the people of the Northern Great Plains and the wildlife that surrounds us. Together, we educate, build relationships, and strengthen rural economies.
MEET OUR Officers
Conni French
President
Conni and her husband Craig ranch south of Malta, MT. They raised three kids on the ranch and are looking forward to making memories with their grandkids there too. Over the years Conni has volunteered with Cattlewomen, 4-H, and the High School Wrestling Club. She is grateful to be a part of the Conservation and Ranching worlds and is excited to see what the future holds for both.
Dale Veseth
Vice-President
Dale is a third generation rancher who lives on the family ranch in the Missouri River breaks. Dale received a bachelors and master’s degrees in Animal Science from Montana State University, and worked as executive secretary of Montana Beef Performance Association while completing his MS degree. Dale and his wife, Janet, were the recipients of the Clarence Burch award in 2008 and the ranch received the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association regional environmental stewardship award that same year. Dale and Janet are founding members of the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance and the Matador Grassbank. “I serve RSA because it’s a grassroots driven organization in cooperation with the best technical and financial support group there is. People on the land are seeing how vitally important good stewardship is to our livelihoods, our community, the land and the environment,” Dale said.
Brian Fox
Secretary
Brian Fox is a fourth-generation farmer and rancher born and raised in Turner, Montana. He graduated from Turner High School in 1999. After high school he worked for numerous farmers and ranchers in the Turner community. Brian was also a member of the Turner Volunteer Fire Department or 14 years. He married his wife, April, in 2007 and has 2 children, Avery and Piper. In 2010, Brian started working for a local bank located in Harlem, Montana. He served as a commercial/agriculture loan officer there for nearly 12 years. During his time in that position, he met dozens of ranchers and farmers with different ideas on how their operation should be run. In 2012 he implemented a grazing and conservation program on his native pasture located in northwest Phillips County which is enrolled in the Conservation Stewardship Program.
Leo Barthelmess
Co-Treasurer
Leo Barthelmess and his wife, Darla, are part of a four-generation family ranching operation in South Phillips County, with three generations active on the ranch.
The Barthelmess Ranch is a cattle operation on private and leased lands, also producing hay and native grass seed. Leo has represented the ranch and livestock industry through leadership in agricultural and conservation organizations and is a strong mentor to many within the industry.
The ranch has worked cooperatively with state and federal agencies on habitat improvement and conservation efforts and was recognized in 2005 as a regional recipient of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Environmental Stewardship Award. Leo continues to pursue regenerative practices that enhance wildlife habitat and support strong rural communities.
Amber Smith
Co-Treasurer
Amber Smith ranches with her husband and two children near Cohagen, MT on Antelope Springs Ranch. She currently serves on her local school board and is the Executive Director of Women in Ranching, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting women’s leadership on the land. As a board member of RSA, she is proud to contribute to thriving rural communities and the stewardship and conservation of Montana’s beautiful grasslands.
Board of Directors
Meet the board
Rick Caquelin
Rick Caquelin and his wife ranch south of Stanford, Montana. Rick grew up on a crop and livestock farm in Illinois. He graduated from Montana State University with a range degree and spent the better part of 33 years raising a family and working for the NRCS in Culbertson, Baker and Stanford. Now retired from his work at NRCS, Rick continues to be a trusted advisor to many in the ranching community. Asked about his involvement with RSA, Rick said, “I wanted to be involved with an organization that truly cared about the rest of humanity more than themselves and worked hard everyday to prove it and to me, that’s RSA.”
Rachel Endecott
Rachel Endecott ranches with her mom and uncle in southwest Montana. She gets her mail in McAllister, but graduated from nearby Ennis High School. Rachel has a BS in Animal Science from Montana State University and an MS and PhD in Range Beef Cattle Nutrition from New Mexico State University. Rachel spent eleven years as the MSU Extension Beef Cattle Specialist, followed by three years at the American Simmental Association where she directed the DNA department and was the co-managing editor of ASA Publication, Inc. She founded Grey Horse Consulting in September 2020 which perfectly combines two of Rachel’s passions: agriculture and communications.
Matt Klindworth
Matt Klindworth is a fifth-generation farmer and rancher from north of Hogeland, Montana, where his family homesteaded their ranch in 1910. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Operations Technology from MSU–Northern and now farms and ranches with his parents, his wife Annie, and their four children. Their operation is primarily a dryland grain farm producing cereals, pulse crops, oilseeds, and annual forages for grazing. Committed to regenerative agriculture, Matt practices no-till, continuous cropping, and diverse crop rotations, while converting cropland to perennial forages and expanding the cow/calf herd. He focuses on moderate, easy-fleshing, grass-efficient cattle with strong calving ease, calving on green grass in late spring and allowing calves to nurse through winter to build long-term grazing ability suited to Montana’s climate.
Ryan Lankford
Ryan Lankford comes from a long line of Montana agricultural families, with maternal great grandparents who homesteaded in south Phillips County and a paternal great great grandmother who received an allotment on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. He and his wife, Lindsey, farm and ranch together while raising their four children. A former Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army, he earned a degree in Civil Engineering from Montana State University using the GI Bill. Ryan has served on the Farm Service Agency State Committee and currently serves on the board of the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation within the USDA Risk Management Agency, along with other agricultural and tribal economic leadership roles.
MEET OUR STAFF
Angel DeVries
Executive Director
[email protected]
Angel joined the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance in March 2020 as the organization’s Finance & Grant Administrator and moved into the Executive Director role in May 2022. Angel received her bachelor’s degree in business accounting and Master’s in Professional Accountancy from Montana State University Bozeman. She earned her Certified Public Accounting license in 2014 and spent three years working in public accounting, specializing in federal fund auditing among many other accounting projects ranging from income tax and payroll tax to auditing and attestation services.
Angel makes her home just east of Malta with her husband, Aaron, and three children, Tessa, Orrin, and Nash, where, together, along with other family members, they run a family cattle operation. When Angel and her family aren’t working on the ranch, they enjoy camping and boating on Fort Peck Lake.
Angel enjoys working for RSA because of the solution-driven, positive mindset culture the organization creates and nurtures and because of RSA’s dedication to the future of agriculture production, not only in our geographical area but across the United States as well.
Martin Townsend
Conservation DIRECTOR
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Martin grew up in Manhattan, Montana. He went to college at Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming and finished his agriculture education degree at MSU Bozeman. While in college, Martin got a seasonal job as a range technician with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) based in Phillips County, where he lived with his grandparents.
He remembers spending time with his uncle on the family’s Phillips County farm and ranch, watching him interact the the local BLM range technician. “I couldn’t believe that was a job,” Townsend says. “It sounded like the most fun thing in the world. That’s what I enjoy most about my job now, being able to work with ranchers and farmers to help improve their places and help them meet their goals.”
Lauren Pettoruto
Communications Director
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Lauren originally grew up in New Hampshire and later earned a degree in Communications and Marketing while competing as a collegiate athlete. She began her career in marketing, communications, and event management, working with corporate brands and mission-driven organizations. Her experience includes working with the PGA Tour, as well as roles in brand management, digital marketing, event planning, and community outreach.
Driven by a passion for agriculture and the western way of life, Lauren moved to Montana to pursue horse training before transitioning into ranching. She spent several years working on cattle operations in Montana and Colorado, gaining hands-on experience in cattle and grazing management, direct-to-consumer beef marketing, and agricultural outreach. Along the way, she continued consulting with agricultural, western, and small-business clients, helping them strengthen their brands through strategic communications. She is passionate about connecting producers and the public through authentic storytelling and meaningful communication.
Outside of work, Lauren enjoys training horses, exploring the backcountry, and spending time outdoors with her two dogs. She deeply cares about ranching, horsemanship, stockmanship, conservation, and the western way of life.
Cadence Steadman
Executive Assistant
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Cadence uprooted from the small town of Thermopolis, Wyoming, where she attended high school. After high school, she went on to Casper College with her sights set on an associate degree in Animal Science, while competing on the college’s livestock judging team. In December of 2022, Cadence moved to Montana and lived in the Billings area. She gained experience at a bovine stud facility and also worked as a private nanny.
At the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance, Cadence is one of the first faces you see when you walk in the door! She serves as task support for nearly every part of the team, as well as answering the office phone when you call.
Outside of the office, Cadence enjoys camping and being almost anywhere outdoors. If you don’t find her in the mountains, she is most likely in a booth at the closest Mexican restaurant.
Loni Gundermann
Fiscal Manager
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Loni grew up on the Hi-Line of Montana and graduated from Wolf Point High School in 2009. Loni has been working in office administration and bookkeeping since February of 2015.
Loni, her husband Tony, and their 3 daughters, Alice, Victoria, and Tilly, farm and ranch near Opheim, MT where her husband’s family has been since 1914.
Loni & her family love to go camping, especially on Fort Peck Lake and on Lake Sakakawea in North Dakota.
Loni joined the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance in November of 2024 as the Fiscal Manager. She is excited to be a part of RSA and the positive impact it makes in our agricultural communities.
She is pleased to be a part of the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance as it actively works towards effective and practical solutions in the naturally intersecting realms of conservationism and ranching.
Mary Oxarart
Education Program Manager
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Mary grew up in Maryland, graduated from Salisbury University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology/Psycology, and worked for the State of Maryland in environmental sciences before moving to Malta, MT in 2009. While living in Montana, she has served as a victim witness advocate, child protection specialist, and teacher. She also currently owns a catering and food truck business.
In 2011, she married Cody Oxarart. In 2013, the duo started their family and now have four children. Despite a full schedule, Mary always makes time to help Cody with their family-owned cow/calf operation.
At the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance, Mary is motivated to help provide support for producers by bringing educational opportunities to rural areas. She believes community, education, and communications are powerful tools needed to succeed in our world today.
Maida Knapton
Mapping Specialist
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Growing up in rural Montana, Maida draws grit, pride, and deep inspiration from the state’s landscapes. She is passionate about utilizing spatial tools to effectively connect communities, science, and landscapes—the very expertise she honed while earning her Bachelor of Science degree in Geospatial and Environmental Analysis from Montana State University.
Maida has dedicated her time to several significant efforts, including supporting landowners in managing Madison County landscapes through her work with the Madison Valley Ranchlands Group. She also serves on the board of the Red Ants Pants Foundation and has contributed to education and land management projects while volunteering for the Jack Creek Preserve Foundation. Adding to her unique background, she spent a year in the Arctic region of Norway completing multi-week winter expeditions and studying Norsk outdoor culture and philosophy.
At the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance, Maida is motivated to directly support local ranchers and conservation efforts by mapping landscape features, assisting with management plans, and providing technical assistance to land stewards. She believes maps are a powerful tool for communication and are critical to fostering healthy landscapes and resilient communities.
Loren Ruport
Senior Coordinating Wildlife Biologist
[email protected]
Loren Ruport is the Senior Coordinating Wildlife Biologist for Pheasants Forever, working alongside the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance and stationed in the RSA office. He supports conservation efforts across Phillips, Blaine, and Valley counties, partnering with farmers and ranchers to enhance wildlife habitat on working lands.
Loren brings nearly three decades of experience from his career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, with past work in California’s Central Valley, the Klamath Basin, and now Montana’s Northern Great Plains. He holds a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation Biology from UC Davis.
A passion for conservation sparked early for Loren through duck hunting and volunteering on mallard nesting studies during high school. That experience led to a lifelong commitment to wildlife and land stewardship.
Loren has called Phillips County home since 2013 and serves on RSA’s Conservation Committee. He brings both expertise and heart to his work, helping advance the shared mission of strengthening ranching, rural communities, and conservation across Montana.
Travis Heppner
Natural Resource Intern
Travis Heppner grew up in Montana and spent two years living in Spokane, WA before returning to Montana in fifth grade, where he reconnected with family, friends, and the community he calls home. He is passionate about protecting natural resources and preserving healthy landscapes for future generations, as well as the wildlife that depend on them. He is especially interested in learning how to care for Montana’s natural environments and use those skills in a future career focused on conservation and environmental stewardship.
The Ranchers Stewardship Alliance, in partnership with Malta Public Schools and the Montana Department of Labor, is investing in the next generation of rural natural resources leaders through a hands-on summer internship designed for Malta high school students. Travis is gaining hands-on experience in land stewardship, wildlife management, and conservation projects. RSA is excited to have him join us this summer!