Michigan introduces Department of Natural Resources and Environment
Two state departments combined on Sunday per Governor Jennifer Granholm’s executive order issued in October.
The Department of Natural Resources and Department of Environmental Quality merged into the new Department of Natural Resources and Environment. But many of the 3,000 employees have worked together before. The agencies were combined until 1995 when then Governor John Engler divided them.
Current DNR Director Rebecca Humphries will be the director of the new agency.
“She’s got 20 years of service with the agency,” said U.P. Deputy Field Director, Stacey Welling. “So she was with us when we merged before. She’ll be with us when we’re merged again, and it’s great to have all that consistency behind us.”
The reorganization of the agency will include four regions, based on watersheds–there will three in lower Michigan and one in the U.P. It will also have four bureaus: stewardship, resource management, environmental protection, and administration.
As for the physical reorganization, the 22 offices will be scaled back to 14, but specific locations haven’t been determined.
“There’s no limitations to technology,” said District Superintendent, Steve Casey. “People could be anywhere and do their job. And one of the things this transition report recommends is that we look strongly at telecommuting, where people don’t even have an office.”
Besides saving money, the ultimate goal of merging the departments is to bring more people into the field, to be closer to stakeholders and resources.
“Empower the people that are out, in that they are going to be called regional offices to make decisions,” Casey said, “instead of having the decisions more concentrated in Lansing.”
The merger could take up to a year to work out. Until then, the public can expect all the same services.
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