Smith: DNR changes course, will bring back park rangers

Paul A. Smith | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Faced with rising costs and increasing public concerns, the Department of Natural Resources announced Tuesday it will change course on its less than year-old law enforcement policy at state parks.

Under the modification, the agency will once again use credentialed park rangers to perform law enforcement functions at parks and other state recreational properties.

The DNR removed the law enforcement credentials of 120 park rangers under a realignment plan implemented this year.

In their place, conservation wardens were tasked with performing all law enforcement at state recreational properties. In many instances, wardens were required to travel across the state for park duty, incurring costs for lodging, meals, gas and overtime.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported on the issue July 14.

The plan stressed the understaffed warden force, deflated the morale of park rangers and caused concerns among the public over resource protection, service and safety, both within and outside of state park properties, multiple sources told the Journal Sentinel.

Furthermore, it proved to be "financially unsustainable" for the agency, said Ben Bergey, state parks director, in a Tuesday phone interview.

No individual has accepted responsibility for the flawed plan. The DNR has only said it was drafted by the Department Leadership Team, or DTL.

"After six months of observation, we’ve decided to implement a new model on how this will work for consistent law enforcement," Bergey said. "The refinement is putting credentials back into the mix in the parks and forestry program."

The change is projected to save the DNR $1.5 to $2 million in annual law enforcement costs, Bergey said.

The credentialed park rangers will be dedicated to a property or properties and will report to managers in the parks division.

Other key details of the modified plan have not yet been determined by the agency, including how many credentialed park rangers it will utilize and where they will be placed.

Rangers who lost their credentials last year will be eligible to apply for the new positions.

Under the modified plan, wardens would be responsible for about 5% of law enforcement coverage in state parks and other recreational properties while the credentialed rangers would handle 95%, according to an estimate by DNR officials.

Bergey said the change will address goals of an agency-wide realignment begun in 2016, including to "protect the rich heritage and diverse needs of our customers" and "ensure financial sustainability."

Although the number of credentialed rangers was not announced, the revised plan is likely to utilize significantly fewer than the 120 on staff in recent years.

The law enforcement changes trace back to an agency-wide realignment begun two years ago under then DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp and fall within a larger goal to streamline state government under Gov. Scott Walker.

The reorganization shrunk the DNR's structure from seven divisions to five and also eliminated the Bureau of Science Services.

In a November 2016 memo announcing the changes, Stepp said the effort would not weaken environmental or conservation standards but was "intended to maximize how we use the staff resources we have available, working with our partners to accomplish our mission."

The initial plan removed law enforcement from the parks division and placed it all under DNR chief warden Todd Schaller in the Bureau of Law Enforcement.

It also called for 33 full-time warden positions to be added to the Bureau of Law Enforcement; however, only 11 were filled.

The change announced Tuesday will cause the warden force to lose an undetermined number of the unfilled positions, DNR officials said.

Reaction to the modified plan was largely positive from the Wisconsin conservation community.

"I think it’s a good mid-course correction," said George Meyer, executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation and former DNR Secretary. "It addresses what clearly were problems observed by sportsmen and park users."

The change will likely improve morale among both wardens and rangers and provide better service to the public, according to DNR employees who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Retired DNR warden supervisor Doug Hoskins of Muskego said it was a "huge step in the right direction."

Hoskins had called the previous plan a "tragedy."

"We'll have to see the actual numbers and how much of the burden they lift off of the warden force," Hoskins said. "But it seems like it is good news for the resource, good news for the sporting public, and good news for the warden force. We need to be vigilant and watch how it gets put in place."

The first credentialed rangers under the revision are expected to take the field in 2019.