DNR Many don’t like politics in natural resources

DNR

Many don’t like politics in natural resources

Tuesday, December 9, 2003

How ironic that Natural Resources Board member Stephen Willett thinks, when the state is in fiscal crisis, it’s political when needless expenses are cut (“Loss of airplane privileges has some DNR board members grumbling,” Dec. 4). That is what the knowledgeable sport anglers and hunters think about a system in which the Natural Resources Board members have agendas and the Department of Natural Resources has agendas and they approve each other’s agendas.

That was the system that the states of Pennsylvania and Maryland had and abolished, because that system was really political. It’s fundamentally wrong to have Natural Resources Board members managing the DNR’s billion-dollar budget when these same board members will want some of their agendas serviced by the DNR. This type of double- dealing can lead to abuses on all sides, and more than flying privileges should be eliminated.

The Natural Resources Board, holding the purse strings, has too much power, which can lead to unjustifiable and resource-damaging proposals being instituted. That is why the sporting community, because of interference by the Natural Resources Board, holds the Fishery and Wildlife Division of the DNR in such low regard.

Kudos to board member Gerald O’Brien for speaking out and saying there are plenty of people who want the job without the free ride. Of course they, in all likelihood, have their agendas also.

Cheryl J. Piland Glendale