Michigan DNR’s Miracle Christmas! They Found $20 Million

Art Summer at Simply Outdoors sent me an email yesterday asking me if I had been following the story in Michigan about budget shortfalls with the Department of Natural Resources. I admitted I had been remiss in not more closely following up on previous stories I had written about their woes. As a matter of fact, back in July I was contacted by the Cadillac News and asked if I would be interested in presenting what I would consider negative effects of sharply raising license fees.

Art included in his email a link to the article he had written about how the DNR, who begged the Michigan Legislature for money because of a projected budget shortfall of a few million dollars, was now somehow rolling in the dough! In short, the DNR was expecting a deficit of $10.8 million and instead wound up with cash on hand of $10 million. How can that be?

The Michigan United Conservation Clubs, in an article presented at their website, was of course upset as they had actively promoted the need for license fee increases in order to keep the DNR running at a level they believed to be necessary for good conservation.

Michigan United Conservation Clubs took a stand for the DNR and the outdoors we all love so dearly. We encouraged our members to support a license fee increase despite the fact that it wasn’t always a popular position. In fact, at times it was a downright unpopular position and certainly created some ill will.

MUCC, along with our dedicated coalition partners, took this position because we felt it was the right thing to do and, according to the information that we were provided by the DNR, was the only viable option to prevent devastating cuts in DNR staff and programs – cuts that would directly impact hunters, anglers and those that love the outdoors.

The facts are now clear that the entire picture wasn’t being presented.

Although upset about the turn of events, MUCC’s approach in how to deal with this solution is admirable but I’m not sure completely in everyone’s best interest. On one hand they have decided to have an independent audit find out what went wrong. On the other hand they don’t want to point any fingers.

In situations such as this, anyone would be compelled to point the finger and lay blame. But that’s simply not productive and it’s not how MUCC – or any credible leader or organization — operates. Instead, we must learn from this experience and apply those lessons in the future.

Well, you’ll have to put me into that category as being a leader lacking credibility because I think there first has to be some serious finger pointing and accountablity. These are no small potatoes! Someone made a $21 million booboo and now few people can put much trust in the MDNR when it comes to future budget requests. MUCC is quite responsible and sensible in requesting an audit but audits will do little if it is shown that those responsible cannot do their job. Perhaps the audit will show the problem and that problem can be remedied.

In an article published at MLive by the Associated Press, the director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Rebecca Humphries, gave reasons why she all of a sudden had nearly $21 million more than she expected.

DNR Director Rebecca Humphries told lawmakers this week that the Game and Fish Fund will have a $10 million fund balance because of an unexpected increase in license sales, operational savings and higher-than-expected returns on investments.

Perhaps the first excuse will bear out that we probably can’t believe the second two excuses. She claims there was an “unexpected” increase in license sales. Oh, really? If there was, it must have come all from fishing licenses but at $13.00 a pop Michigan would have had to sell a lot of licenses to begin to put a dent in $20 million. I would sooner think that any organization that couldn’t project a $21 million surplus surely has no clue as to why.

Just late last week, Eric Sharp, outdoor writer for the Detroit Free Press, talked with Rod Clute, big game specialist for the MDNR. His concerns were that deer hunters hadn’t taken enough deer because it appear fewer hunters were out in the woods. But Clute in this article claims there were no more deer hunting licenses sold than the previous year.

“It’s a real puzzle,” Clute said. “We don’t know why the hunters weren’t out there, but the reports we’re getting are all about the same — fewer people in the field. What really makes it so strange is that we sold just as many licenses as last year. Did a lot of people buy licenses and just not use them?”

So if we can’t wholly believe that an “unexpected” surge in license sales contributed to this “windfall” then how can we believe that $20 million was saved by operational cuts and returns on investments? What investments? Show me the money!

This now becomes a huge trust issue. Sportsmen contribute millions of dollars through license fees and they expect better than this. We are always the ones being asked to pay more in fees. Most sportsmen are willing to pay the money provided they can account for where the money is going. Isn’t that just smart? A certain amount of that trust is now in shambles and the MDNR needs to begin repairing that.

Hopefully, MUCC’s efforts in conducting an audit will begin to mend the bridge. If the MDNR intends to find funds to carry on its programs, this is going to be impossible if they don’t have the trust of those who pay the license fees. If returning that trust means that a new director is needed, then so be it. If nothing else, sportsmen across Michigan should be very angry and disappointed and they should let their representatives know just how they feel. This is your investment and it needs protecting. Don’t depend on government to look out for it.

Tom Remington