DNR rejects wishes of lawmakers, the public, in service center decision Dec. 16, 2009 The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has thumbed its nose at state lawmakers and the public.
Months after Gov. Jim Doyle signed a budget that specifically included a provision to keep Antigo and the 29 other service centers open, the DNR powers-that-be in Madison are effectively shutting them down anyway.
The department announced Tuesday that as of Jan. 4, counter hours will be scaled back at all the centers in order to meet state-imposed budget limits. Antigo will go from being open four days a week to just two.
Early this year, the DNR attempted to close most of the centers entirely, arguing that license purchases and other customer services could be handled over the Internet or through a network of retail stores.
But lawmakers balked, and earmarked funding specifically to keep the centers open.
So now, the DNR is using the back door approach. Less hours will mean fewer transactions and that, in turn, will force people to the Internet or private retailers for license purchases and other services. That will strengthen the DNR’s arguments during the next budget cycle that the centers, many housed in very spiffy buildings constructed at enormous costs in the 1990s, should be closed entirely.
It’s a neat little gambit, and it will probably work.
We have no argument with the DNR men and women in Antigo and throughout the region. They are hardworking and conscientious, a tribute to their profession.
The Madison decision-makers are another story. By cutting hours, and ultimately closing the centers, they are trimming the last little bit of “service” from their agency’s responsibilities, leaving the bureaucrats in control. We doubt the budget cuts will lead to fewer of them.
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