The Natural Resources Board will take a closer look this week at a controversial reorganization plan announced by Department of Natural Resources leaders.
The DNR’s “Strategic Alignment Effort” includes several changes that critics fear will make the agency too friendly to businesses, or not address a larger problem of staff cutbacks. DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp said the board was briefed on the reorganization a couple of weeks ago, but she said she and her leadership team are ready to answer more questions from the citizen committee, including whether the private sector will have too much pull within the new structure.
“Absolutely not … No regulations are changing, no standards are changing,” Stepp said. “This is just about, the business support and external services division is going to be a typical first entrée into the agency for people looking to do permits like piers.”
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Stepp also said rather than whining about employee cutbacks, the reorganization is about using the agency’s human resources to their best potential.
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