Editorial: Oversee, don't micromanage

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Damn Near Russia. No, that's not what DNR means, but that is an old slogan near and dear to the hearts of critics of the state Department of Natural Resources. Twenty years ago and more, you could find those words on the bumper stickers of hunters' and anglers' trucks and posted in lots of bars across the state.

The sentiment hasn't gone away. In fact, it may be intensifying among state GOP legislators, as Journal Sentinel reporter Lee Bergquist pointed out in an article last week on the relationship between the DNR and the Legislature.

And since it's an election year, legislators aren't likely to tone down the language anytime soon. As DNR Secretary Scott Hassett put it to Bergquist, this is "an open season on us." The fact is that the agency is an easy target. Nevertheless, it's past time for a truce and for some legislators to stop throwing hand grenades.

Those legislators argue that the DNR is too big, too arrogant and unaccountable for its actions. But environmentalists and DNR officials argue that the legislators are trying to micromanage a government agency that sometimes has to make unpopular decisions to protect the state's natural resources.

As in most cases, there is some truth in each argument. State bureaucrats can make mistakes and arbitrary decisions. Different officials can interpret the same rule in different ways or enforce rules in different ways. Sometimes, they may overstep their authority.
State Sen. Neal Kedzie (R-Elkhorn), who has worked well with the agency and is hardly a severe critic, told us that the DNR needs good leadership and properly trained employees, that those employees need to be held accountable and that they should be treating Wisconsin residents as customers. He's absolutely right.

The fact is that the DNR is making progress toward a more customer- and business-friendly model, especially through its Green Tier program, which seeks to work more closely with business. But it also has an obligation through the state's Public Trust Doctrine to protect natural resources and to make sure they are used wisely. That will mean there will be times when even sound decisions will irritate someone.

The Legislature's responsibility is to set general policy and laws that the agency will then enforce. It is not the job of legislators to declare that protected species no longer need protection or to determine the details of hunting seasons and rules, especially in the face of a teeming deer population and chronic wasting disease.

Yes, the DNR needs oversight, and the Legislature should provide it. And legislators have an obligation to respond to the complaints of their constituents. Maybe some changes are needed at the DNR, purely to ensure consistency and accountability.

But those changes can be made without blowing up the agency, as gubernatorial candidate Rep. Mark Green (R-Wis.) would do by splitting it in two, and without every legislator looking over the shoulder of every DNR employee.