DNR staff seem to act primarily as mediators between special interests and public rights, not as advocates for the environment.  The DNR is under constant lobbying pressure from powerful special interests.  It was valuable to have a small separate Public Intervenors Office whose sole purpose was to advocate for public rights in natural resources, to argue that public uses of those resources should be preserved for the future. 

In addition, the Intervenors served an important role in the development of new laws and regulations, arguing for public rights to permit notices, public hearings, contested cases, and other appeal processes, as well as advocating for reasonable environmental protections.  Even today, old rules are being revised (often weakened) and new rules are being developed, and the Intervenors’ extensive technical and legal knowledge is sorely missed. 

The Intervenors did not generally sue polluters or others harming the environment --- the Intervenors sued the government for not enforcing the law, which was more efficient.  The Intervenors Office tried to choose cases which would set statewide precedents which promised to improve statewide government performance or set examples for private citizens to follow.