Ms.Sarah Vogel

Director
Joined Northwest Area Foundation: July 2007


Vogel, a third-generation rural activist, is an attorney in Bismarck, N.D., of counsel to the Baumstark Braatan Law Firm, P.C. Her practice has focused on agricultural law and work for Native Americans. She served two terms as North Dakota Commissioner of Agriculture from 1989–1996 and was cofounder of Marketplace of Ideas, which was for many years was the nation's largest rural development conference. She also served as the assistant attorney general of North Dakota, where she specialized in farm crisis issues. During that time she was selected by the American Bar Association as one of the 20 young attorneys whose work made a difference to the United States. Vogel also has worked with many individual Native Americans and Native American organizations and governments, including the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe, Sioux Manufacturing Corporation, and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.

In 1983 she won the national class action lawsuit against the Farmers Home Administration (Coleman vs. Block). At a time when banks, businesses and farms were folding and farmer suicides were soaring, she was able to stall foreclosures until the government provided farmers with their due process rights (leading to the “borrowers’ rights” under the Farm Credit Act of 1987). This ruling affected more than 230,000 farmers. More recently, Vogel was one of the co counsels on a national class action (Keepseagle v. Vilsack) providing monetary relief for past discrimination in lending and future programmatic reforms for Native American farmers and ranchers.  

In addition to serving as a Director for the Northwest Area Foundation, Ms. Vogel is on the board of the Farmers Legal Action Group. She previously was a board member for the American Agriculture Law Association and the North Dakota Trial Lawyer Association. She also is an author, speaker, and lecturer on legal issues.

In 2006, Vogel won the Distinguished Service Award from the American Agricultural Law Association. Vogel holds a law degree from New York University and a bachelor’s degree from University of North Dakota.