State Republicans Reject Four Appointees to the State Natural Resources Policy Board

Monday, October 2nd, 2023 -- 10:01 AM

(AP) Republicans who control the state Senate’s sporting heritage committee voted Thursday against confirming four of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ appointees to the Department of Natural Resources policy board, a move that could delay a board vote on the agency's contentious wolf management plan.

The committee voted against confirming Sharon Adams, Dylan Jennings, Sandra Dee Naas and Jim VandenBrook on a 3-2 vote for each appointee. All three committee Republicans voted against confirmation for each appointee. The two Democrats on the committee voted to confirm the appointees.

The committee voted unanimously to recommend confirming Evers appointee Paul Buhr. The DNR's board is made up of seven gubernatorial appointees. All of them are Evers picks, giving the governor full control of environmental and wildlife policy.

The full state Senate has confirmed two of them: chair Bill Smith and Marcy West. Gubernatorial appointees can serve until the full Senate votes against confirming them. A vote to reject confirmation equates to termination.

The sporting heritage committee's 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.

The plan 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.

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