Ever Makes Two Appointments to Natural Resources Board

Bill Smith and Jeff Hastings. Photos courtesy of the Office of the Governor.

Gov. Tony Evers on Thursday made two appointments to the Natural Resources Board, the body that sets policy for the state Department of Natural Resources and has been the venue for a number of partisan disputes in recent years.

Evers reappointed Bill Smith, the board’s current chair, to his seat and appointed former Vernon County conservationist Jeff Hastings.

Smith was first appointed to the board in 2019 and worked for the DNR for more than 30 years.

“Over the last several years, the Natural Resources Board has worked on high-profile issues that have captured the attention of the public, and I am glad for the opportunity to continue this important work and advocate for the issues that people across the state feel so passionately about — our state’s green spaces and natural environment,” Smith said in a statement. “My years of experience on the Board lend a unique perspective on the challenges we address as a body, and I am grateful to the governor for the opportunity to continue that work.”

In addition to working for Vernon County, Hastings worked at Trout Unlimited, serving as project manager of its Driftless Area Restoration Effort to conserve cold water fish habitat in western Wisconsin. Hastings is replacing Marcy West, whose term expired Thursday.

“I am thrilled to be able to translate my years of work in conservation to the efforts of the Natural Resources Board,” Hastings said. “It is an honor to take up this role, and I look forward to working together with my fellow members to best serve the interests of Wisconsinites and uphold the responsibility we share to preserve and protect our state’s natural resources and wildlife.”

Members of the seven-person Natural Resources Board serve staggered six-year terms to prevent all appointments being made during one governor’s term. Three members are required to be from the northern part of the state, three members must be from the southern part of the state and there is one at-large member. At least three members must have held a hunting, fishing or trapping license in seven of the 10 years before their nomination.

While the governor appoints members to the board, the Republican controlled Senate confirms them. The board, which has say over hot button issues such as wolf management and water quality standards, has become a regular flash point in the divide between Evers and the Senate.

Both Hastings and Smith will need to be confirmed to their seats, but state law allows them to fill the role in the meantime.

In 2021, Republicans in the Senate worked with former board chairman Frederick Prehn to keep him in his seat on the board for more than a year after his term’s expiration in an effort to keep appointees of Gov. Scott Walker in control of the board.

In 2023, the Senate fired four of Evers’ appointees to the board and last year the Senate failed to confirm another Evers board nominee.

Evers makes appointments to Natural Resources Board was originally published by the Wisconsin Examiner.