A legislative committee will study putting leadership of Game and Parks under the governor.
JOE DUGGAN / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:00 am
Nebraska hunters, anglers and wildlife watchers will want to pay close attention to a discussion in coming months that could significantly change the state's game and fish agency.
The Nebraska Legislature's Natural Resources Committee will conduct an interim study on the "feasibility of making the Game and Parks Commission a code agency."
What's the difference between code and noncode agencies? In simplest terms, it comes down to who is the boss.
The director of Game and Parks, a noncode agency, is appointed by and answers to a nine-member board of commissioners. So the commissioners are the bosses in the agency's current structure.
Other examples of noncode agencies are the Department of Education and the State Historical Society.
In code agencies, the governor appoints the directors and they, in turn, answer to the governor.
Code agencies include the Departments of Agriculture, Environmental Quality and Natural Resources.
So, making Game and Parks a code agency would give the state's chief executive direct power over all natural resource management in the state.
Nebraska governors already have a significant influence on Game and Parks for no other reason than they decide whom to appoint as commissioners. Governors also sign, or not, the bills that approve the budgets for the agency. So it's not like the Game and Parks director thumbs his nose at the governor and says, "You're not the boss of me."
But as a noncode agency, Game and Parks can maintain a level of independence from the state's top executive officer. And that's on purpose.
The prevailing logic is an agency that manages fish and wildlife should be somewhat insulated from the political whims of an elected official that could change every four years. The thinking is fish and wildlife decisions should be made based more on science than politics in order to best serve the public trust.
"If you surveyed the sportsmen, I think they'd clearly tell you to minimize political influence on policy decisions affecting hunting, fishing and wildlife resources," said Wes Sheets, a member of the Lincoln Izaak Walton League who also serves as the league's volunteer lobbyist.
At the same time, it also would be naive to think the word "noncode" magically keeps politics out of the mix. The management of prairie dogs or the agency's plans to obtain instream flow rights in the Niobrara River are just two controversial issues that have generated plenty of political pressure on commissioners.
Still, influencing a board of nine is a more different task than capturing the ear of one.
"Proper management of natural resources is vitally important to Nebraskans, certainly more important than any political football that could get bounced around," said Omaha Sen. Beau McCoy, who introduced the resolution to hold the interim study.
McCoy said he only wants the question considered - he hasn't decided if he thinks the agency should be changed. But wildlife agencies in other states are code agencies, so perhaps there are some advantages to the arrangement that should be considered.
McCoy, a home improvement contractor who grew up on a Nebraska cattle ranch, also said he sought the study on his own - Gov. Dave Heineman did not ask him to do so.
The governor declined to comment on the matter, saying he did not want to influence the study, according to spokeswoman Ashley Cradduck.
Any public hearings for the interim study have not yet been scheduled, but they typically take place in late summer or fall.
If the study recommends a change, it would require a bill to be introduced and passed. So hunters, anglers and wildlife watchers will have opportunities to make their opinions known.
Reach Joe Duggan at jduggan@journalstar.com or 473-7239.