In last week's column I covered some of the faults and weaknesses that are ingrained in our state's top level positions due to the political "payback" appointments that occur each time a new administration takes power. Rather than the most qualified person being appointed to head up the various agencies and departments, it usually means the ones who've been the most helpful and supportive in getting the gubernatorial candidate elected that get the nod, and their qualifications for the position often matter far less.
When Eliot Spitzer was stumping for the governorship, his record as State Attorney General was quite impressive, and that record, along with his promises to improve economic conditions upstate, was largely what got him the votes north of the Lower Hudson. He also indicated his displeasure over the way the Department of Environmental Conservation had been run under the Pataki administration, which helped him get the outdoor enthusiasts' votes. What a difference a couple of months make. Spitzer's appointment of Pete Grannis as Commissioner of DEC smacks of political payback and unfortunately would place a person with ties to animal rights and anti hunting and trapping organizations in the driver's seat of DEC.
With the abundance of highly qualified appointees – many of them from upstate – who fully understand the importance of insuring the DEC properly manages our natural resources, Spitzer had several choices. Instead, he appointed a career politician from Upper Manhattan who has questionable natural resource management knowledge and minimal experience in the fish, wildlife, habitat and forestry programs that are so valuable and critical to the state. In the state Assembly since 1974, Grannis' main accomplishments were passage of the state Environmental Quality Review Act, the state's first bottle bill, the brownfield cleanups of contaminated former industrial sites, and legislation barring smoking in public places – all exemplary but not exactly qualifications for overseeing game and habitat management or inland fisheries programs. Spitzer also appointed Judith Enck – his longtime environmental adviser and also the Executive Director of Environmental Advocates – to the position of Deputy Secretary for the Environment. Like Grannis, Enck's expertise appears to be primarily in the environmental quality and preservation arenas and not in natural resources management. Since its inception in 1970, when it replaced the old NYS Conservation Department, the multifaceted DEC has experienced a trend that saw increasingly more logically qualified commissioners and deputy commissioners replaced with political appointees with questionable credentials for the positions they held. Simply put, the vast majority of these appointments were largely "rewards" for supporting the incoming administration during its bid to gain office. The steady line of appointed DEC commissioners has generally exhibited an alarming lack of natural resource management knowledge or interest, but rather depended on professionals below them for that advice and guidance. Unfortunately, that advice and guidance were often ignored. This has been especially true in the divisions responsible for managing fish, wildlife, forestry and habitat.
Today, the DEC's primary accomplishments are all the public lands under its control as well as the steps it's taken to clean up the environment. Meantime, the quality of natural resource management and programs has slid increasingly lower. Funding allocations and manpower for these programs have been reprioritized downward or diverted to general environmental programs. As a result, the programs that were once the foundation of the old Conservation Department have slid farther and farther into deterioration and neglect.
The DEC's fish and wildlife biologists now spend as much or more time on environmental impact studies and general environmental projects than on the projects they were meant to specialize in. There are no "game wardens" today but rather environmental conservation officers (ECOs), who spend as much time enforcing air and water emission regulations as they do fish and wildlife regulations. And as attrition has reduced the manpower in the various natural resource divisions, the workload has progressively increased to the point where some projects must be abandoned, delayed or only partially done.
Sadly, it seems that too many of our DEC leaders have viewed natural resource management as a bothersome sideline rather than a valuable asset that generates tens of millions of dollars annually. Could this be the result of those appointed to top-level positions primarily coming from urban backgrounds with little or no knowledge or interest in the effective custody and management of the natural resources beyond New York City or Albany? One can't help but wonder.
With all the challenges caused by years of reprioritizing, the Spitzer administration faces some major hurdles in rebuilding a DEC that has drifted badly away from its role as the steward of our natural resources. Our fish hatcheries are in need of repair, as are many state parks, campsites and launches. Wildlife habitat management on public lands is almost nonexistent, many being unable to support even modest densities of wildlife species, both game and non-game. Innovative deer population control measures that can involve more safe hunting access need to be addressed and implemented in areas where herds are reaching dangerously high levels. We need better and more youth educational programs on the environment, our role in it and the necessary management it requires.
The DEC should be advertising and promoting all the great outdoor opportunities that still manage to exists in the state. The voluntary $5 Habitat Stamp that has been available for the past three years is a good example of failing to promote a potentially valuable program. Because DEC did little to advertise the stamp, the vast majority of the public as well as many of the licensing agents who sell it weren't aware of its existence. As a result, the total funds generated by the stamp – which is placed in a dedicated fund for habitat and access improvement – has barely topped $30,000 annually, the majority of that coming from sportsmen and women.
Governor-elect Spitzer will need to make some serious changes if he truly wants to keep his pre-election promises to upstate voters. And getting the DEC back on track could certainly be a move in the right direction.