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Outdoors: Doyle still waiting for chance to hand over control of DNR
AMERY -- As Jim Doyle was about to be inaugurated as Wisconsin's governor, he told me the system should be changed to allow the Natural Resources Board to appoint the secretary of the Department of Natural Resources.
Six years and one re-election later, that power still rests in his hands.
That's not as much a reflection on Doyle as it is on a divided legislature that has never put a bill on the Democrat's desk asking for the change. But that also has left murky the issue of whether Doyle still believes in reversing the course set in the mid-1990s by then-Governor Tommy Thompson, who wanted to have more control over the DNR and took away control from the citizen board, which had held direct oversight since 1927.
The 43rd Governor's Fishing Opener May 2 in Amery provided a forum to revisit the issue. I asked Doyle whether or not he would have signed either of the two bills this past session, both of which would have returned the appointment authority to the board.
His answer? Not necessarily -- and not without the cooperation of the Republican-controlled Senate.
"A little will depend on what bill comes to my desk," Doyle said. "We found out in the past couple years that you can run into a real problem if the Senate is not willing to confirm. Any bill that has board appointment has to have a provision in it that will assure there will be a vote in the Senate, and that is one of the concerns I've had in the bills.
"We've seen in recent years with a Governor of one party and Senate of the other party, and they wouldn't move on board appointments."
Although members of the Natural Resources Board are appointed by the governor, they must be confirmed by the State Senate.
When asked if that meant that he would not have signed either bill, Doyle responded: "I want and hope to get this done, so I will have to make a judgement when the bill is actually on my desk. But, it will be a lot easier to get me to sign it if it requires that the Senate approves board members. Otherwise you get in the same political kind of game-playing that went on."
Doyle touched on several other topics during opening ceremonies at the event:
Stewardship Fund: Doyle admitted some remarkable success in natural resources during the past year, especially the renewal of the Stewardship Fund. He thanked legislators for passing the bill to renew the fund for 10 years and increase the commitment from $60 million per year to $85 million per year.
"I really want to thank many in this room, because it really was the hunting and fishing community that stepped forward to help get this done," Doyle said. "For the first four years as governor I had to take on two incredible attacks on the Stewardship Fund, and in the first two budgets the Stewardship Fund would have been gutted and destroyed. Through my veto pen I was able to be sure that we maintained this incredible program for the state."
"This should never be a Democrat or Republican issue. It is named the Knowles/Nelson Stewardship Fund, first started, and known as ORAP, by a Democratic Governor Gaylord Nelson working with a Republican legislature. It was extended by Governor Knowles, a Republican governor working with a Democratic legislature, and further extended by Governor Thompson, a Republican governor, working with a Democratic legislature. And this time we got it done with a Democratic governor and a legislature that has one house Republican and one Democratic. It shows that when we focus on what our common values are and get away from partisan fighting you really can get something done."
Honoring Knowles: The Fishing Opener was held in Polk County, which prompted Doyle to ask attendees to pause and remember Knowles, a native son. In Doyle's mind, Knowles was the governor most devoted to the outdoors and hunting and fishing. (Doyle acknowledged that Knowles was the superior fisherman of the two.)
Fighting invasives a priority: Doyle noted a major new commitment in the budget to fight invasive species in lakes, and that a couple weeks ago an announcement was made that the state would pass the Great Lakes Compact. This has not yet happened but the Governor and legislature believe they have an agreement.
"What defines us is the water," Doyle said. "When I am away from home my thoughts are to the woods and waters of the state. It is our solemn and sacred responsibility to protect this incredible place."
We're No. 2: Doyle said that after Florida, Wisconsin is the second top fishing destination in the United States and that adds $2.7 billion to the economy, and is responsible for more than 30,000 jobs.
