Three members of the Indiana Natural Resources Commission – including the chair and vice chair – resigned in June, citing Gov. Mike Braun’s administration for limiting resident input and its role in working with the Department of Natural Resources.
Chair Bryan Poynter, who chaired the commission for 20 years, vice chair Jane Ann Stautz and member Bart Herriman resigned from the commission, according to resignation letters obtained by the Post-Tribune.
Stautz, who submitted a resignation letter June 24, said she has served on the commission under seven governors and experienced the shift in natural resource policy and management.
“Throughout these years, one principle has remained constant: effective conservation and resource management are strongest when they are informed by public participation, guided by sound science and conducted through transparent and accountable decision-making processes,” Stautz wrote.
The commission “plays a vital role” in gathering input from citizens as it develops policy and regulation for the state’s lands, waters, wildlife and outdoor heritage, Stautz wrote.
“I strongly encourage future commission members to continue fostering meaningful citizen engagement, promoting transparency in rulemaking and regulatory decisions, and maintaining the public trust that is essential to good governance,” Stautz wrote.
Herriman, who was appointed to the commission by former Gov. Mike Pence, resigned from the commission June 12. Herriman said he enjoyed his time on the commission because of its role in “promoting public input, guiding conservation policies, developing rules and regulations, and ensuring transparent, citizen-led governance of state lands and wildlife.”
But Herriman wrote that the commission’s role has shifted under new leadership.
“Since the appointment of Alan Morrison as director of DNR, it has become apparent that an agency that thrived on transparency and engaging the public to foster sound public policy has become a cabal in which citizen input has been stifled,” Herriman wrote.
Herriman wrote that public hearing agendas have been posted “at the last minute” and scheduled in areas of the state far from the locations directly impacted by the regulations the commission was discussing at the time.
Typically, the natural resource commission would vet and preliminarily approve regulations for consideration in a public meeting, Herriman wrote. But Morrison “has taken it upon himself to preliminarily approve such regulations without the courtesy of notifying NRC members,” Herriman wrote.
“This has resulted in the NRC having little to no input on public policy affecting Hoosier natural resources and bad policy has resulted. What the Indiana General Assembly failed to do by statute, i.e. abolishing the NRC … Morrison has achieved administratively by neutering the NRC and stifling public input, so pet projects can be jammed through,” Herriman wrote. “Public policy grounded in science has been replaced by brute political force through clandestine machinations.”
More Top Picks Best Folding Wagons For Tailgating
At the commission’s last meeting in March, Poynter sounded off against a new practice of Morrison that the chair said excluded the citizen panel from the input process, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Under the new process, board members can’t make changes to the rules proposed by Morrison and would have to attend public hearings to provide input, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Poynter, who submitted his resignation letter June 23, wrote to Braun that “unfortunately the role of the commission is no longer valued by your administration in the manner intended by statute.”
“The current department leadership has seen fit to destroy public trust, push forward resource management decisions based on whims and not science, eliminate transparency, and terminate all communication or engagement with the commission. Actions – and, more importantly, the absence of actions speak louder than words,” Poynter wrote.
“These circumstances, coupled with repeated failures to share information, provide adequate notice to the citizens about important issues, and not involving the commission in any discussions or deliberations have left the commission completely excluded from the very process it was created to oversee,” Poynter wrote.
Griffin Reid, a spokesman for the governor, said Braun recently reappointed three long-serving members of the board but declined to name the new members until the governor releases his monthly boards and commissions appointment release.
In a statement to the Post-Tribune, the DNR said the resignations “do not accurately reflect the collaboration” between the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the Natural Resources Commission and the public “to steward Indiana’s natural resources responsibly and transparently through science-based decision making.”
Recent state laws have strengthened transparency and public participation in the state’s rulemaking process and updated the staffing structure of the Natural Resources Commission, which includes posting proposed rules to the Natural Resources Commission website, approval from the Office of the Attorney General, multiple public comment periods and public hearings, according to the DNR.
“All of these steps are fully transparent and open to both the public and Natural Resources Commission members. DNR follows this rulemaking process as required by state law, with the added step of final rule adoption by the Natural Resources Commission,” according to the DNR.
The state rules have stated, since 1996, that “the secretary of the commission may approve a rule for preliminary adoption,” which ensures that commission members have the opportunity for review, input, and final approval, according to the DNR.
“This approach maintains openness throughout every stage of the rulemaking process for both the public and commission members,” according to the DNR. “DNR leadership has maintained regular communication with the Natural Resources Commission chair and, last year, provided notice of process efficiencies aligned with state law for the chair to share with commission members.”
Sam Carpenter, the executive director of the Hoosier Environmental Council, said in a statement that the resignations “raise serious concerns about the loss of independent, knowledgeable voices in decisions that affect our natural resources, environment and public health.”
“Hoosiers deserve transparent processes where experts and communities have a meaningful seat at the table,” Carpenter said. “At a time when our natural resources and environment are strained more than ever, Indiana should embrace public engagement for the benefit of all Hoosiers,” Carpenter said.
State Rep. Randy Novak, D-Michigan City, issued a statement after the resignations that “we cannot keep pretending this is normal.”
“When the people who have spent their careers at this agency and know how this system is supposed to work choose to walk away rather than put their name on what it has become, the rest of us have a duty to stop and act,” Novak said. “If trusted, longtime public servants no longer believe they can do their jobs honestly, no Hoosier has reason to believe that the next decision was made fairly. We do not fix that by hoping it blows over. We fix it with accountability.”