She said she doesn’t anticipate cuts in the 2017-19 state budget beyond the 9.5 positions she proposed in September. More than 90 of the agency’s roughly 2,500 full-time positions were cut in 2015.

DNR deputy secretary Kurt Thiede said a few workers will have different duties or managers, but many will be relieved because they will be given more realistic job expectations.

“Our workforce is so passionate about what they do that they are not going to let a ball drop,” Thiede said. “We owe it to our staff now, whether it’s in parks or other areas, to allow them to focus on specific areas and to take things off their plate and hand them to others with the expertise so that we have not only a more efficient workforce, but a workforce that doesn’t feel as if they are being burned out.”

While elected officials and outside groups gave input, Stepp said many of the reorganization ideas came from DNR employees.

“That’s what’s been the most fun for me out of this entire process is to watch people excited about contributing to a much more vibrant and sustainable future for this very important agency,” Stepp said in the interview. “And to see some of their ideas come into being for the first time ever.”