Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Groundwork laid for Walker to break apart WI DNR

Scott Walker's years-long diminution of science, public resources, citizen environmental priorities and the historic public mission of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as a bulwark against pollution and abuse of the natural world  - - catalogued and documented for years on this blog as recently as a few minutes ago - - is now approaching its depressingly far-right and toxic conclusion Walker began six years ago when he redefined the agency with his "chamber of commerce mentality" direction.

The breakup of the agency by Scott Walker and his GOP legislative allies to permanently disconnect science from environmental protection and to further flush away the last vestiges of pollution abatement and prevention in Wisconsin

Wisconsin DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp proudly shows off her first deer, taken opening weekend last year. In the upcoming TV Special "Deer Hunt Wisconsin 2012, Stepp urges male hunters to take more girls and women hunting. "The secret's out," she says. "Hunting is a lot of fun, so don't keep it to yourselves."  photo courtesy of Wisconsin DNR
which Big Business sought for decades to make as much money as possible from land and water and clean air which the DNR is supposed to hold in trust for all the people of the state:
A Republican lawmaker is pushing to split the Department of Natural Resources into different departments and Gov. Scott Walker says he is open to the idea. 
In a year-end interview at the governor’s mansion on Wednesday, Walker said state Rep. Adam Jarchow of Balsam Lake gave his office a detailed proposal a month ago that would split environmental and wildlife functions into two separate departments. Other duties like forestry and parks would go to other agencies. 
“It’s interesting,” the Republican governor said.
"Interesting."

Right.

"Interesting."

Like the interesting Act 10 "bomb" Walker dropped on all public employees which he'd said was just a "modest, modest proposal" about budget repair, and 'right-work' legislation' which was just some idea out there he had no interest in before he quickly signed it, and so.


This is the divide-and-conquer game Walker plays 
over and over again.

Feign disinterest, distract observers, maybe express marginal interest, suggest someone else is running the show, while the plans are in motion with a one-party Legislature and State Supreme Court to add the final bullet-proof approvals.


Unless the people rise up as they did when Walker tried (but failed) to get rid of the DNR by removing all the oversight power from the Natural Resources Board, or wipe the heart of the Open Records law or the Wisconsin Idea, the DNR and its ability to keep drinking water clean and trout in the streams or state park trails open to hike are gone, gone, gone.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mission accomplished Milwaukee Journal Sentinel! All the little beasties and green shoots thank you THANK YOU!

Now if we could only find a way to create a Lincoln Hills kind of facility for Mother Nature and her living creatures.

Anonymous said...

What's the worry? Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tells me this is merely saying "proposal to split DNR may have merit".

They are even featuring Scott Walker as the voice of reason on drug testing, though it is curious why they want to features stories about Walker being against (or at least "pans") drug testing kids.

Oh, don't worry about the drug testing of adults that is on-the-way. That's been scrubbed from the MJS frontpage.