PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Among South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem’s recent appointments to state boards and commissions are several leaders from their regions.

Karl Adam of Pierre succeeds Brad Johnson of Watertown on the state Board of Water and Natural Resources.

Johnson, first appointed in 2003, was the long-time chairman of the panel whose roles include making loan and grant decisions for public drinking water, sewer, storm sewer and recycling projects.

Adam is a past chairman of the South Dakota Republican Party and currently is president of the South Dakota Bankers Association. His parents were Tom Adam, a Pierre lawyer at the May Adam firm, and Pat Adam, a sister of the late Governor George S. Mickelson and a daughter of the late Governor George T. Mickelson.

The new governor also made two key appointments to the state Transportation Commission that oversees hundreds of millions of dollars worth of decisions on highway and bridge projects and sets rules for state roadways.

Bruce Cull of Yankton replaces long-time member Ralph Marquardt of Yankton.

Cull has been a long-time owner of Dakota Archery and Outdoor Sports at Yankton and as president of the National Field Archery Association helped lead the community’s successful push to move its headquarters to Yankton.

Marquardt, first named to the commission in 2003, served under previous governors Dennis Daugaard and Mike Rounds.

Benj Stoick of Mobridge succeeds Kim Vanneman of Ideal on the panel.

Stoick, a long-time grocer and son of the late lawmaker James Stoick, has been active in public activities. Another Mobridge resident, the late Jim Rothstein, a former state lawmaker, served parts of three decades on the commission.

Vanneman, a former lawmaker, accepted an appointment from Noem as state secretary of agriculture. Noem is South Dakota’s first woman to serve as governor and Vanneman is South Dakota’s first woman to serve as agriculture secretary.

Daugaard had named Vanneman to the Transportation Commission in 2015.