More Than 50 Organizations Support Independent Natural Resources Secretary

It's a groundswell at the grassroots: More than 50 organizations have signed a letter calling for the legislature to return to the Natural Resources Board the appointment of its Secretary.

Former Gov. and Power-Hungry Chief Executive Tommy Thompson pushed the legislature in 1995 to recreate the Department of Natural Resources Board as a politically-run agency, part of his attack on grassroots environmentalism that also included wiping out the positions of Public Inervenor in the Office of Attorney General.

The push to return to the Natural Resources Board the selection of its Secretary - - the arrangement under which the agency had run for decades in Wisconsin - - is widespread and bi-partisan.

And is uniting urban and suburban environmentalists, rural conservationists and landowners, and the so-called "hook-and-bullet" interests - - the state's powerful angler and hunting communities.

It's a good sign, and long overdue.