WI GOP power plays put natural resources actions under a cloud

A reminder that the Wednesday, Aug. 11 meeting of the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board - the oversight board which sets policies for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources - will produce multiple high-profile agenda decisions.

That agenda includes establishing yet another 2021 wolf kill quota and will also affect storm water pollution rules, angling, fisheries, wild rice harvesting, clean water goals and programs, and other matters of statewide importance, yet Board chair Fred Prehn, a Walker appointee whose appointment expired in May, continues to refuse to leave his position.

That intransigence goes against Wisconsin custom and democratic fair play and exploits the partisan unwillingness of the GOP-controlled Wisconsin State Senate to schedule a hearing on the replacement Board member nominated by Gov. Tony Evers:

Nearly two months since his board term expired and Gov. Evers appointed his replacement, Sandra Dee E. Nass of Ashland, [Prehn's] holding on to a rarely-used state law to buck a tradition that nearly every NRB member has adhered to throughout its history. 

The law allows for the senate to confirm a governor’s choice for the board; throughout the board’s 53-year history, members largely step aside instead.

Attorney General Josh Kaul has been asked to intervene; no doubt any action he were to take one way or the other could be appealed, so it seems that for the foreseeable future the Board and its public health, recreational, safety, and environmental decisions will remain under a cloud - 

The cloud under which the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board now operates has been created by partisan politics, not Mother Nature.

- of illegitimacy that began with the GOP's power grab carried out after Evers defeated Walker in November, 2018: 

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signs lame-duck legislation that curbs his Democratic successor's authority 

By the way, here is how an agricultural news website described Sandra Dee ("Sandy") Nass, the educator, scientist, hunter, angler, business owner, angler and hunter whose Wisconsin Natural Resources Board service is being blocked: 

Naas has more than 30 years of experience related to conservation and currently serves as an Agriculture and Natural Resources Instructor and FFA advisor at Ashland High School. She is also the owner and primary Natural Resources Scientist at Stable Solutions, an environmental consulting firm in Ashland. Currently, she is the chair of the Bayfield County Conservation Congress and vice-chair of the Bayfield County Deer Advisory. Prior to these positions she also worked as a Soil and Water Scientist at JZ Environmental and held the position of County Conservationist at the Ashland, Bayfield, Douglas and Iron, and Adams County Land and Water Conservation Departments. Naas is an avid hunter and angler, and a certified trapper education instructor.