New NRB appointees grilled on role of board, cranes, stewardship by Senate

MADISON - The four newly appointed members of the policy-setting board for Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources underwent intense questioning by the Senate Tuesday, in their bid for confirmation.

Todd Ambs, Robin Schmidt, Patty Schachtner and Douglas Cox appeared before the Senate Committee on Financial Institutions and Sporting Heritage, fielding questions from the Republican members while Democrats remained silent.

The four new members were appointed last month by Gov. Tony Evers after all four of his previous appointees were rejected by the Senate.

Here's what you should know.

Who are the new members?

Ambs and most recently served as the deputy secretary of the Wisconsin DNR before he retired in December 2021, according to a release from Evers. Ambs has also served as the water division administrator for the DNR, executive director for the River Alliance of Wisconsin, and campaign director for Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition.

Schmidt retired from the DNR in 2018 after 34 years of state service, having most recently served as the chief of the environmental loans section, according to a release. She is a licensed professional hydrologist with experience managing programs that work to improve the water quality of the state. Schmidt also previously served as the food and agricultural security/homeland security liaison at the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Schachtner served in the Senate from 2018 to 2021, representing the 10th Senate District, according to a release. She now serves on the Somerset Community Food Pantry Board and the Board of Directors for Turningpoint Wisconsin, a center for victims and survivors of sexual and domestic violence.

Cox has more than 30 years of experience with the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and is currently the tribe’s land management director, according to a release. Cox has also previously served as the tribal chairperson, a forest monitoring specialist, and the environmental program coordinator for the tribe’s environmental services department.

What did the new appointees have to say about the role of the NRB?

Ambs said the board plays a "critical policy role" for the DNR.

"There's a particular focus on both approving rules as well as land purchases management plans and things of that nature," he said. "Just for the record, we don't have anything to do with any day to day activities within the department or in the personnel issues associated with the department. But we're also a critical link to the citizens of this state."

Schachtner said the role is to learn and to make decisions.

"As a citizen, I think the role of the board is to look look read, learn on every topic that is brought forward to us," she said. "As I said, I'm not an expert. I am a person, I'm a consumer."

Schmidt said she very much views the role of the board to be what is outlined in statutes.

"The Wisconsin statutes actually define the Natural Resources Board as a policy setting, so I'm very much in favor of following what the law says," she said. "The history of the of the Natural Resource Board has been to step into setting policy based on information that's presented to us."

Cox said the board is there to take into consideration the public's desires.

"I think the board needs to be focused on the public's input in our rule-making," he said. "Additionally, I think the board's responsibility is making decisions based on what information we receive."

What about stewardship?

Schachtner said she'll review all information relating to land purchases to ensure it's a good decision for the state. When asked if the Legislature should have the final say on whether or not land is purchased, she said she didn't have an answer immediately.

"There's a lot going into that, so I'd have to think about it," she said.

Scmidt said stewardship is obviously important to residents.

"I think it's twofold and I know that there's concern about how much land that is purchased and taken out of the tax roll," she said. "But I believe the Legislature has established a maximum amount of land that can be used."

Ambs said purchases have to make sense, but the benefit of public land also has to be weighed.

"We've got to look at each one of those purchases when they come forward before the board makes sure that they make sense within that particular local area. If you're looking at a purchase, you've got to ask what's the local community think about that," he said.

"I was with the department during the height of COVID, and what I saw was amazing in terms of what people did in our outdoor recreation space. There were two places you could feel safe at the height of COVID in your home, or outdoors, and people recreated in record numbers in our parks and our wildlife areas, in our forests. You couldn't find a campsite across the state. And the reason they were able to find some quality of life was that they were able to access those public areas, many of which were made possible by stewardship purchases."

Should there be a sandhill crane hunt?

All of the appointees pointed out that the decision to start a sandhill crane hunt lies with the Legislature, which would have to bring forward a bill, and the governor, who would have to sign the bill into law.

Schmidt said the Legislature first needs to take that action

"I think that clearly there's an interest in hunting, and I respect the work that the Legislature will do to make that decision," she said. "Then our role, for the DNR then, would be to make sure that that hunt takes place in a way that continues to manage the species."

For Cox, making a decision on crane hunting is more significant. In Menominee culture, sandhill cranes are important and worthy of protection, he said, which is something he will take into consideration. But he'll also consider what experts have to say.

"Do I think Wisconsin can have a season? We need to listen to the experts that are bringing those proposals forward and look at the data," he said. "But wait until we have something in front of us from the Legislature proposing something. But again, it's something that we need to look at data for."

What other topics were appointees asked about?

Members were also asked a host of questions on other topics, too, such as how wolves should be managed, if mining should be permitted, if Enbridge's Line 5 project should be expedited, what should be done to handle PFAS costs and why the deer harvest was so low this year.

Here's a selection of their answers.

On who should be responsible for PFAS clean-up, Schmidt said it needs to be a combination of money from different places.

"Clearly, this is a huge job that has to be done. And I don't think there's any one source of funding that is going to effectively deal with this job. I think it's really going to take a partnership and a collaboration with local governments, businesses, industries and the public to try to come up with some solutions," she said. "We've all we all contributed to this issue by using products that contained PFAS and we're all responsible for helping contribute to accessing clean water."

When asked about the lower number of deer harvested this year, Schnachter said that there a multitude of reasons the number could be down, but among them is changes in hunting and where people can hunt.

"There's definitely a difference in hunting today than there was when I was growing up. And that is access to continuous continuous forest," she said. You know, in our area, what used to be hunting area is now housing. You can't safely hunt with a gun in most places in our area. So that in and of itself has had a negative impact on the hunting experience in our part of the state."

In response to being asked if mining should be permitted in the state, Cox said if it could be done safely, then yes.

"If mining can be done in a fashion that doesn't leave landscape, the water, the air in a polluted condition, if we can find a way to do that, on this landscape and it's good for the state of Wisconsin and its residents and Indigenous tribes," he said. "There's a permit process. There's state law. There's also federal law that binds companies when they're working in the state of Wisconsin. If those boxes are checked, they can be issued a permit can do it safely."

Ambs asked about tweets posted in 2022

During the hearings, committee chair Sen. Rob Stafsholdt, R-New Richmond, questioned Ambs about some of his tweets from 2022.

In one tweet, Ambs said "the Republican Party and Fox News is filled with assholes, domestic terrorists and traitors." Another read "Is anyone who isn't an asshole speaking at the RNC?"

"Would you like to explain to me how as a Republican, you believe that I can work with you?" Stafsholdt said.

Ambs said he wasn't sure what those posts on X were in reference to, that he'd have to look at it.

"I know it's no secret but I am no fan of the former president," Ambs said. "And for that I make no apologies."

What happened to the last four appointees?

Sharon Adams, Dylan Jennings, Sandra Dee Naas and Jim VandenBrook were all rejected by the Senate, largely along party lines.

Concerns raised about the appointees stemmed from the committee hearings held for each appointee. They were asked if they would support administrative rules brought forward by the DNR that cost more than $10 million over two years, which is the limit set in state statutes. Often rules proposed by the DNR will have a cost analysis by the agency that is less than $10 million over two years, but outside analysis will suggest that compliance could cost more.

Several of the appointees said they would vote to approve such a measure, if it was supported by the DNR, which became a sticking issue for Republicans.

Only one Republican broke ranks and voted alongside Democrats to confirm the appointees: Sen. Rob Cowles of Green Bay. Cowles said that his colleagues can't expect to agree with every opinion of every appointee, especially when they're appointed by a governor affiliated with the opposing political party.

Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on X at @SchulteLaura.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: NRB appointees grilled on role of board, cranes, stewardship