EDITORIAL: Have Resources Board Appoint the Wisconsin DNR Secretary
By La Crosse Tribune, Wis.
Oct. 1–In 1928, conservationist Aldo Leopold and others came up with a plan to create a Wisconsin Conservation Commission that would best respond to the needs of the people.
In its plan, the commission would have the authority to name a professional conservation director to hire qualified national resource managers for the new department.
That plan was carried through into the Department of Natural Resources. Governors appointed members to a Natural Resources Board for six-year terms, and those members appointed the DNR secretary.
The system provided a great deal of stability and expertise for a state department that regularly worked with hunters, anglers and other citizens.
That relationship was changed in 1997, when then-Gov. Tommy Thompson scrapped what had been a successful system and opted instead for one in which the governor alone appointed the DNR secretary — the same as any other department.
Ever since, those who are most interested in Wisconsin’s natural resources have wanted a return to the old system.
George Meyer, executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation and a former DNR secretary and longtime agency staff member, has argued that since Thompson made the change, DNR secretaries have been appointed without specific agency or resource management experience.
It’s time to change that. There are three bills in the Legislature calling for a return to the old system. One of the bills, sponsored by Rep. Scott Gunderson, R-Waterford, who also serves as chairman of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, would restore the board-appointed secretary immediately. Two other bills, by Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, and Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona, would restore the board-appointed secretary after the 2010 gubernatorial election.
State conservation groups have been calling for a return to the old system for years. It’s time to make the change.
One could argue that the DNR should be treated the same as all other agencies — and be subject to direct gubernatorial influence. But natural resources represent much of what makes Wisconsin special. And the great amount of citizen participation in resource issues is another reason to insulate the agency from direct political influence.
Meyer has been persuasive in his analysis of the situation. On May 23, he told a legislative committee that the old system would still have accountability because the board members would be appointed by the governor, and the agency would have to live under a budget approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor.
He added, “What the board appointment authority provides, however, is greater public involvement in agency policy-setting and a buffer for the agency to make difficult and controversial natural resources decisions without partisan political interference.”
Gunderson’s proposal, Assembly Bill 504, will be subject to a public hearing Oct. 10. It deserves a timely review and ultimate passage. .
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Copyright (c) 2007, La Crosse Tribune, Wis.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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