Kale Van Bruggen is a native of Litchville, North Dakota where he grew up on his family’s corn, soybeans, wheat, barley, and emu farm. Kale graduated magna cum laude from North Dakota State University with a degree in Business Administration. He received his law degree, with an emphasis on food and agricultural law, from the Drake University Law School where he graduated with highest honors and Order of the Coif. While attending law school, Kale served as the note editor of the Drake Law Review and clerked for Justice Brent Appel of the Iowa Supreme Court. Currently, Kale served as a Director on the Board of Farm Commons, a nonprofit organization that provides legal resources and training to small, family‐operated, farm‐to‐ consumer businesses. Kale also serves as a Director on the Board of the James Arthur Albert Foundation, a nonprofit organization that builds classrooms and provides scholarships for Belize children to attend high school.

Kale Van Bruggen is a member of the firm’s agricultural and environmental law practice. Kale has personal understanding of farming practices gained through the family farm in North Dakota where he was raised. With this understanding, Kale provides effective and practical representation of farmers, landowners, and public drainage authorities (water resource districts, counties, watershed districts) on litigation, regulatory, and transactional matters. Kale counsels his farmer and public drainage clients on wetland regulatory matters including NRCS certified wetland determinations; permitting and compliance under the Clean Water Act; wetland banking and mitigation; compliance with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service waterfowl production area easements; determinations under Minnesota’s Wetland Conservation Act and permits and compliance with Minnesota’s public waters, public waters wetlands, and buffer laws. Kale also represents public drainage authorities in North Dakota (water resource districts) and Minnesota (counties and watershed districts) on matters pertaining to creation and management of public drainage systems and water quality restoration projects. In the courtroom, Kale has represented farmers and landowners on many cases pertaining to drainage law and public drainage authorities on appeal of public drainage orders.

Education

• Drake University Law School, Des Moines, Iowa, 2012, J.D.
• North Dakota State University, 2009 – B.A., Business Administration

Bar Admissions:

• Minnesota
• North Dakota
• Iowa
• U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota

Professional Associations

• American Agricultural Law Association
• Minnesota State Bar Association
• MSBA Rural & Ag Law Section
• North Dakota State Bar Association
• Iowa State Bar Association
• Stearns‐Benton Bar Association
• Drainage Working Group

Related Articles

• Iowa Drainage Law Basics and Drainage Agreements - by Maury Noonan
• Why is watershed phosphorus loading so stubbornly persistent? - by Joe M. Bischoff, Wenck
• Swampbuster: Does Your Project Qualify for an Exemption? - by Maury Noonan
• Minnesota Drainage Law - by John Kolb and Kale VanBruggen
• John Kolb and Kale VanBruggen on Drainage Law on AgPhd Radio - by John C. Kolb and Kale R. Van Bruggen
• Buffer Strips On Minnesota’s Waterways And Ditches - by Kale Van Bruggen and John Kolb
• The Clean Water Act and Wetlands: EPA and Army Corps Rule on “waters of the United States” - by Kale Van Bruggen and John Kolb
• Contractor Liability: Wetland Drainage and Pollutant Discharge - by Kale Van Bruggen and John Kolb
• The Clean Water Act and Wetlands: Redeposit vs. Incidental Fallback - by Kale Van Bruggen and John Kolb
• The Clean Water Act and Wetlands: Expansion of Federal Jurisdiction - by Kale Van Bruggen and John Kolb
• NRCS Certified Wetland Determinations: Things You Should Know - by Kale Van Bruggen and John Kolb
• North Dakota Tile Drainage: Common Questions and Answers on Permit Requirements - by Kale Van Bruggen and John Kolb

• Co-Authored Article: Agriculture’s Fate Under Climate Change: Economic and Environmental Imperatives for Action
• Presentation: Wetlands Presentation to MN Surveyors