After meeting, agency promises change
By JOHN PEPIN, Journal Munising BureauArticle Photos
After pushing for much of last year for a sharp increase in hunting and fishing license fees to prevent a shortfall in the state’s Game and Fish Protection Fund, DNR officials announced the fund ended the year with a $10 million fund balance.
The revelation enraged sportsmen, many of whom have long thought the DNR is a bureaucratic boondoggle, an agency that has become far too top heavy with administrators, less than honest in its dealings with the public and constantly threatening cuts to programs and important field and local staff.
A group of more than 300 such sportsmen packed a meeting room at the Ramada Inn in Marquette Saturday, trying to galvanize support for an investigation of the agency and an overhaul of its practices.
In an interview with The Mining Journal prior to the rally, Humphries said the DNR failed to effectively communicate the budget issues to the public last fall.
“It created distrust,” Humphries said.
The DNR adhered to special orders given by Gov. Jennifer Granholm last year to curtail spending, which led to the DNR saving more money in the fund than it originally anticipated.
More income from hunting license revenue than expected was also realized, which posted gains for the DNR in the latter part of the year. But that message never effectively reached the public.
What did get out clearly were earlier agency threats to eliminate jobs and big cuts to numerous programs dear to sportsmen.
Humphries said she never would have considered those job cuts if she had known the budget projections would ultimately prove to be inaccurate.
“For me, it’s heartbreaking,” said Humphries. “I think it has hurt us. We have tried to run things as efficiently as we can.”
Since that time, Humphries said she has taken several steps to make the budget information more readily available to the public, including monthly reports to the Natural Resources Commission and employing new ways of more accurately projecting budgets.
Humphries said though she’s heard the charge the DNR has not cut enough personnel in Lansing, she said current staff figures don’t bear out the claim.
She said about 30 positions have been cut in Lansing, many of which Humphries said she has no plans to refill.
In terms of field positions, Humphries agrees staff levels are diminished.
“We’re down to all-time lows with conservation officers and fire officers in the field,” Humphries said.
The state legislature is currently set to consider a supplemental funding bill, which would provide $2 million to be split between the DNR — for forest recreation and fire programs — and the state’s conservation districts.
State Rep. Steve Lahti, D-Hancock, said the supplemental funding bill is expected to be acted on within the next couple of weeks.
Lahti, who sits on the house appropriations committee, worked closely with Humphries last December to ensure ski trails would be groomed this winter.
Fire funding for the DNR in the bill would be used to purchase some equipment and fill some of the fire officer positions, which Humphries said have fallen “below objective levels.”
Forest recreation funding could not only stave off the possibility of more state forest campground closures this summer, but would likely see the reopening of several sites which were closed last year, angering anglers, campers and equestrian forest users.
“If they pass that, we’ll be able to open most of those campgrounds,” Humphries said.
It remains to be seen whether improvements to DNR operations and public communications will ultimately be realized.
But it appears after the events of recent days a tentative dialogue has begun between the DNR, lawmakers and the state’s sportsmen.
At Saturday’s rally, impassioned sportsmen offered their assistance to helping solve DNR problems. At the same time, they pleaded for more consideration and assistance from legislators and DNR officials in providing a fiscally responsible agency.
Five state lawmakers attended the rally, sitting in the front row, listening and taking notes.
Upper Peninsula NRC commissioners John Madigan of Munising and J.R. Richardson of Ontonagon vowed to take local concerns back to Lansing.
Madigan said the input and assistance of local groups must be utilized. Richardson said improved communication could eliminate many of the problems.
Humphries said, “People are passionate about the outdoors in the Upper Peninsula. And there are no shortage of opinions and we’re open to hearing all of them.”
