Rebecca Katers, Clean Water Action Council, Green Bay, 920-437-7304
Bill Kordus, Twin City Rod & Gun Club, Neenah, 920-722-1579
Keith Reopelle, Wisconsin’s Environmental Decade, Madison, 608-251-7020
Jim Wise, Environmentally Concerned Citizens of the Lakeland Area (ECCOLA), Tomahawk, 715-453-8769
Tom Wilson, Northern Thunder, Viroqua, 608-637-3356
Caryl Terrell, John Muir Chapter - Sierra Club, Madison, 608-256-0565
Susan Mudd, Citizens for a Better Environment, Milwaukee, 414-271-7280
Wisconsin --- Political influence over DNR decisions is the
focus of the seventh DNR Watch report issued by the Natural Resources Accountability
Project, a joint effort of several state environmental and conservation
organizations. The report discusses details of a recent survey of
1,537 DNR employees, and responds to specific arguments of survey critics.
The survey by PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility) shows widespread concern among staff over the excessive interference of the Governor, legislators, and business interests in the DNR’s everyday decisions and operations. More than 90% of the survey respondents ( 1,399 DNR employees) believe the Governor should not be allowed to appoint (and thereby control) the DNR Secretary.
"The integrity and effectiveness of the agency has been called into question by a majority of the agency’s own employees," stated Rebecca Katers, of the Clean Water Action Council. "Legislators need to listen, and we citizens need to demand that a political balance be reinstated, through restoration of the Wisconsin Public Intervenor Office and the restoration of the Natural Resources Board control over the DNR Secretary."
"This is a damning portrait painted by the agency’s own employees who witness what is going on first hand," stated Caryl Terrell, Sierra Club - John Muir Chapter. "The survey results, and the employee essays in particular, can only be regarded as a cry for help to the public, to lawmakers and to their supervisors, including Secretary George Meyer."
The report also includes a strong "Citizen Group Statement" concerning political influence over DNR, signed by citizen organizations representing tens of thousands of Wisconsin individuals with a broad range of interests: environmental, hunting, fishing, lake associations, students, farming, and religious.
"Thirty five major citizen groups in Wisconsin want to see SB 27 moved through the legislative process and not be buried in a committee to die like so many other bills," stated Keith Reopelle, of Wisconsin’s Environmental Decade.
The survey showed that a frightening 18% of the survey respondents (277 employees of the DNR) agreed or strongly agreed that "I know of a situation in which a DNR superior has retaliated against a staffer for doing his or her job "too well" on a controversial project." In addition, 15% (230 employees) agreed or strongly agreed that "I fear job-related retaliation for openly advocating enforcement of environmental regulations. Furthermore, 8% (123 employees) agreed or strongly agreed that "I have been directed by a superior to overlook environmental violations." More than 75% of respondents felt staff morale was poor at the DNR.
"The survey results, and the employee essays in particular, can only be regarded as a cry for help to the public, to lawmakers and to their supervisors, including Secretary George Meyer." - Carly Terrell
"These numbers point to serious systematic and widespread problems with enforcement in the DNR. We don’t need to see a majority response in these numbers for Wisconsin citizens to be concerned," added Rebecca Katers.
"Survey critics may try to dismiss the results as partisan, but this can’t explain away serious concerns from hundreds of state employees," observed Tom Wilson, of Northern Thunder. "Both Republicans and Democrats alike care deeply about the preservation of our state’s natural environment and none can deny the impact of low morale and perceived ineffectiveness among the DNR employees themselves."
DNR Secretary George Meyer discounted the survey because he considered a 51% response rate as unrepresentative, yet directors of two professional survey reported they considered such a response "very good." As Linda Penaloza, Director of the Wisconsin Survey Research Lab at UW-Extension in Madison, explained, "To throw out the results based on a 51% response rate would be very much over-reacting. The survey is still representing a majority and the attitudes of those 1,537 people who did respond."
A survey with this response rate would be expected to have about a 5% margin of error.
"The findings in the PEER report offer the perfect opportunity for DNR
staff to come forward and form a Wisconsin Chapter of PEER," concluded
Jim Wise, of ECCOLA.
Background
As part of the 1995 State Budget, with little opportunity for public
awareness or input, a party line vote in the legislature gave Governor
Thompson direct control over the DNR Secretary, which in essence turned
the DNR into a partisan agency, controlled by the party in power.
In the same budget, the Intervenor Office was eliminated. Five of
the previous DNR Watch reports described specific DNR decisions which were
counter to the DNR’s purpose and appear linked to large campaign contributions
to the Governor. This seventh report summarizes the first 5 reports
and discusses the apparent pattern of political influence in light of the
PEER survey results.
Recommendations from the Natural Resources Accountability Project
We, the following citizen organizations, are extremely concerned about political influence over DNR decision-making, as highlighted in the recent PEER survey. We strongly urge the Wisconsin Legislature to pass SB27, to restore DNR Secretary appointment authority to the Natural Resources Board, and SB 72, to restore the Wisconsin Public Intervenors Office.
Clean Water Action Council
Green Rock Audubon Society
Wolf River Chapter, Trout Unlimited
Wisconsin Rural Development Center
Madison Audubon Society
Citizens for a Better Environment
Wisconsin's Environmental Decade
Northern Thunder
Federation of Fly Fishers - WI Council
Wausau Bird Club
Wisconsin Wildlife Coalition
Martell United for Family Farms
Western WI Izaak Walton League Chapter
EarthWINS
Environmental Council, UW-Stevens Point
Mining Impact Coalition of WI, Inc.
Wisconsin Council of Trout Unlimited
Pheasants Forever, Wisconsin Chapters
River Alliance of Wisconsin
Wisconsin Interfaith Impact
Wisconsin United Methodist Board of Church and Society
Concerned Citizens of Trempeleau County
Sierra Club -- John Muir Chapter
Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group
Protect Our Wisconsin River
Environmentally Concerned Citizens of the Lakeland Area
Lake Superior Greens
Random Lake Association
Alliance for a Sustainable Earth
Progressive Action Network
Twin Cities Rod & Gun Club
Wisconsin Wetlands Association
Kickapoo Valley Stewardship Alliance
