Senate Republicans Vote Against Confirming Gov. Tony Evers' Appointees to DNR Policy Board
Key Highlights :
The Republican-controlled sporting heritage committee of the Wisconsin state Senate voted Thursday against confirming four of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' appointees to the Department of Natural Resources policy board. The committee voted against Sharon Adams, Dylan Jennings, Sandra Dee Naas and Jim VandenBrook on a 3-2 vote for each appointee, with all three committee Republicans voting against confirmation for each appointee. The two Democrats on the committee voted to confirm the appointees.
The committee also voted unanimously to recommend confirming Evers appointee Paul Buhr. The DNR's board is made up of seven gubernatorial appointees, all of whom are Evers picks, giving the governor full control of environmental and wildlife policy. The full state Senate has confirmed two of them: chairman Bill Smith and Marcy West. Gubernatorial appointees can serve until the full Senate votes against confirming them.
The votes against Adams, Jennings, Naas and VandenBrook suggest that the full chamber will likely vote against them. The committee votes come as the board is preparing to approve a new wolf management plan, which does not include a hard population cap despite hunters and farmers' demands for a specific numerical limit. The plan instead recommends keeping the population at around 1,000 animals, a number hunters and farmers say is far too high. The DNR's current wolf management plan, approved in 1999, caps the number of wolves in the state at 350 animals. The agency estimates as many as 1,200 wolves may roam the state today.
Farmers have complained that wolves are decimating their livestock, and hunters have pointed to the 350 number as justification for higher kill quotas during the state's annual wolf season. Wisconsin law mandates an annual wolf hunt. But wolves in the lower 48 states are currently on the federal endangered species list, making hunting them illegal and prohibiting farmers from killing nuisance wolves. The state management plan would go into effect if wolves come off the endangered species list and hunting resumes.
The sporting heritage committee's chairman, Sen. Rob Stafsholt, has introduced a bill that would mandate the DNR include a hard population cap in the plan. The agency's board is expected to vote on the plan Oct. 25. Stafsholt and the other committee Republicans, Sens. Cory Tomczyk and Mary Felzkowski, grilled Adams, Jennings, Naas, Vandenbrook and Buhr whether they support a hard population cap. Adams, Buhr and Jennings wouldn't say; the other appointees said they don't believe in a firm population limit.
The Senate's Republican leaders have yet to schedule a confirmation vote for any of the five appointees. If the Senate were to vote to reject Adams, Jennings, Naas and VandenBrook, the board wouldn't have enough members to vote on anything. If the rejection vote comes before Oct. 25, the board wouldn't have enough members to approve the wolf plan and action could be delayed for weeks or longer until Evers picks their replacements.
"It's outrageous that four dedicated and qualified public citizens who are volunteering their time, energy, and expertise to serve our state continue to be subjected to the political ire of Wisconsin Republicans whose own resumes wouldn't pass muster for filling these very roles," Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback said in a statement Thursday evening.
The Republican-controlled sporting heritage committee's vote against confirming Gov. Tony Evers' appointees to the Department of Natural Resources policy board has drawn criticism from the governor and his staff. The board is preparing to approve a wolf management plan that does not include a hard population cap, and if the Senate were to vote to reject the four appointees, the board wouldn't have enough members to approve the plan, potentially delaying action for weeks or longer. The committee's chairman, Sen. Rob Stafsholt, has introduced a bill that would mandate the DNR include a hard population cap in the plan, but the other committee Republicans have yet to schedule a confirmation vote for any of the five appointees.
