From The North Woods Call
The most radical surgery ever suffered by Michigan conservation has Department of Natural Resources personnel and sympathetic conservationists reeling and uncertain of the future. As Governor Engler issues an executive order dissecting the DNR, its director, Rollie Harmes, is slicing the department's field structure - under orders from the governor, not the legislature. As this is written, the situation was in a constant flux. Hundreds of people-related and financial decisions remain unsettled.
Even those who have in the past advocated separating the DNR into two independent agencies are in shock at the way it is now being done and with the motive behind it. They see this change, not as a benevolent alteration and an attempt to strengthen conservation, but a brazen sellout to polluters and developers.
To summarize, the split leaves the DNR with fisheries, wildlife, forestry, parks, boating, and conservation officer programs. Air and water pollution, toxic cleanup, landfills, and many other environmental protection and land use regulatory programs go to the new Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
Critics believe the split is tarnished by:
It is well known that even the division chiefs and others who have worked for Harding do not respect him. They routinely describe him as an "environmental prostitute," and worse, saying he is a shill for industrial concerns who want to undermine air, water, and other ecosystem protection. In his new position, Harding will report directly to the Governor, with no oversight commission, such as the NRC, to hear citizen input.
Harding is presently being designated as the architect of the split which includes a call for cutting $2 million through "field restructuring." According to knowledgeable sources, Harding was arranging the department split with the staff of the governor, behind Harmes' back, who reportedly was shocked when confronted with the news by a television newsman.
Though Engler's office insists the governor wants Harmes to remain as director of the neutered and downsized DNR, sources say that Harding and others want him removed. Former DNR director and MSU president Gordon Guyer, now director of the Department of Agriculture, is reported to have convinced Engler to retain Harmes, at least until the chaos is over.
Since "field restructuring" is not in the law, MUCC representative Rick Jameson says Harmes has no mandate to implement it, and should ignore it.
Though many who favor retaining wetlands protection within the DNR since wetlands are critical to wildlife (sixty percent of endangered species are in wetlands) and fish, Harding and Engler's office are reportedly conspiring to repeal Michigan's Wetlands Protection Act. If this alleged conspiracy is successful, wetlands protection would then revert to federal protection; we all know what the present Congress is up to here.
MUCC executive director Tom Washington said that putting Harding in charge of the DEQ is "like putting the fox in to guard the hen house." A DNR field employee likened it to "putting Mike Tyson in charge of rape protection." Harding's agenda, Washington and others say, is to make it easier for polluters and developers to get permits. "Why shouldn't it be hard to get a permit to pollute the air or water, destroy a wetland, or dredge and fill a lakeshore?" Washington asked.
In response to the report from the governor's office that thirty or more regional supervisors will be removed, retired Lower Peninsula regional deputy director John MacGregor says that eliminating regional supervisors "is a mistake that will reduce field decision making." (MacGregor endorses the separation of environmental protection functions into a separate agency.) MacGregor insists that regional deputies and supervisors not only coordinate operations and make decisions, but they buffer the people under them by taking the political and public heat, "so the guys out there - in the districts and below - can do their job."
MacGregor is also critical of transferring wetlands protection, lakes and streams, oil and gas and other land use functions to the DEQ.
As for the alleged knifing of Harmes by Harding, MacGregor's comment was: "So, what's new?"
MacGregor has advocated splitting the DNR for years. He contends it became too large, too top heavy, and unmanageable. Trimming it down to two independent departments, he feels, will allow the resource agency to better compete for dollars and let both agencies do a better job of focusing on their missions.
Pete Petoskey, former DNR and U.S. Forest Service wildlife chief, disagrees with the split. Conceding the DNR has been "emasculated," Petoskey claims it is due to weak leadership. "(The DNR) hasn't had strong leadership since 1974, when (Gene) Gazlay died," according to Pete.
On the other side, praising the split, former DNR director Gordon Guyer said: "There has been constant chaos. I think it will work. Our natural resources don't deserve the controversy they've been subjected to."
DNR budget chief, Denny Adams, estimates "very roughly" that the DNR will retain about 2,800 positions (about 800 of them seasonal) and a budget of around $250 million. The DEQ should end up with around 1,000 people and a budget of about $200 million.
The legislature can reject Engler's order if it acts within sixty days after it is signed.
This story appeared in slightly altered form in the mid-August issue of Glen Sheppard's The North Woods Call. It is used with permission. - EM
RWOL
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