By TODD RICHMOND • Associated Press Writer • September 23, 2009

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The state Assembly passed a bill Tuesday that
would strip the governor of his power to pick the head of the
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and give it instead to the
board that set the agency’s policy.

Democratic supporters insisted the bill would reduce the influence of
politics in conservation decisions. Republicans said the bill would do
nothing of the sort, pointing out the governor appoints board members,
too.

“There’s no way you’re going to remove politics,” said Rep. Don
Friske, R-Merrill.

The Democratic-controlled Assembly approved the bill 61-32. It goes
next to the state Senate. Democrats control that chamber, too, but the
bill faces a major hurdle in Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle.

Although Doyle had said since his first campaign in 2002 that the
thought the board should appoint the Department of Natural Resources
secretary, he reversed himself earlier this year, telling conservation
groups he now believes the job should remain part of the governor’s
cabinet.

“It makes the DNR more effective when it has the weight and authority
of the governor behind it,” Doyle spokesman Lee Sensenbrenner said.
“It’s the way every other state agency works.”

Legislators on Tuesday were already looking ahead to overriding a
Doyle veto. A successful override would require a two-thirds vote in
both the Assembly and Senate.

“If the governor wants to veto this, have at it,” said Rep. Marlin
Schneider, D-Wisconsin Rapids. “But we should have back at it with the
opportunity to override. That’s when you get the real voice of the
people.”

The Department of Natural Resources regulates hunting, fishing and
pollution. But the Natural Resources Board has the final say on its
policies, from the length of hunting seasons to pollution regulations.
The secretary oversees department operations and brings policy
proposals to the board, which is made up of seven gubernatorial
appointees who serve staggered terms.

The board appointed secretaries until 1995, when then-Gov. Tommy
Thompson, a Republican, shifted that power to his office. Thompson had
said having the secretary in the cabinet would lead to more
accountability and better management.

Outdoors groups have grumbled for years that the approach injects
gubernatorial politics and favors into wildlife, environmental and
regulatory decisions that should be science-based. They also complain
it leads to turnover as governors leave office and puts bureaucrats
with little outdoors knowledge in the position.

Ed Harvey, president of Conservation Congress, a group of sportsmen
that advises the department, said outdoors lovers prefer to have the
board appoint the secretary.

“You don’t have the slimy part of politics. Those board people aren’t
receiving donations to campaign funds,” Harvey said.

But Friske said the governor would simply stack the board with people
of a common political persuasion to ensure it appoints a secretary
that would work with the governor.

Republicans also said that people currently can express their
displeasure with the department by voting against the governor.

“It’s easy to go back and go to all the Conservation Congress meetings
… and say ’I did it. I did exactly what you wanted,”’ said Rep. Mike
Huebsch, R-West
Salem. “You’re going to be as surprised as they are when all those
problems are still there and you have very little influence.”

The bill’s author, Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, countered that the
bill would preserve the environment.

“Think more about the next generation,” Black said, “than the next
election.”