Conflict of interest concerns don't stop DNR donations

From the Milw Journal Sentinel

The Natural Resources Foundation said Wednesday it will donate an estimated $500,000 to the state Department of Natural Resources this year.

The nonprofit group also outlined preliminary plans to raise up to $100 million over 10 years to protect public lands in Wisconsin.

On Wednesday, Charlie Luthin, executive director of the foundation, provided a $221,000 donation to the endangered resources program of the DNR.

The foundation has received substantial funding from American Transmission Co. of Pewaukee, which owns and builds transmission lines in Wisconsin. ATC donates $300,000annually to the foundation.

Questions have been raised in the past about the donations because some of the proceeds from ATC eventually become donations to the DNR, and ATC needs environmental approvals from the DNR for its projects.

Mike McCabe, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, said the donations were not appropriate.

If a dispute over an ATC project arises, he said, "the public will have every right to ask whether the department is pulling punches."

But DNR Secretary Matt Frank said he saw no problem, noting that money comes at "arm's length," from ATC to the foundation to his agency. Franc Fennessy of ATC, a former administrator at the DNR, said the DNR sought changes years ago to ensure that the foundation had separate financing and did not share employees with the DNR.

Luthin said the foundation's funding, including contributions from ATC, plays an important role in protecting the state's natural resources. With that in mind, the foundation is studying the feasibility of a major fund-raising campaign to help support public lands, including those owned by the DNR. Luthin noted that the Legislature's expansion of the land-acquiring Stewardship Fund - from $60 million to $86 million annually starting in 2010 - will open up new lands to state ownership. However, Luthin said it was doubtful the state would have adequate funding to manage and restore habitat, control invasive species and protect endangered species.

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Yet another example of the DNR being the most political agency in state government.

And $86 million a year for land acquisitions is not enough?