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The elections are done and thank God for small favors. Sweeping changes are going to be seen throughout the country based on voter sentiment. Most of those who lost in their bid for election did the right thing in conceding graciously and committing to help bring back our standard of living that seems so unsure today. It better happen because if it doesn’t, the main campaign question heard in two years (as it has in the past) will be, “Are you better off now than you were two years ago?”

Our new Governor Rick Snyder, is going to have his hands full with a planned agenda and a lot of new faces to work with in the process. Some experienced legislators will return under a new post and should be able to use their experience to facilitate whatever changes are in store.

For those who enjoy the great outdoors and pay the lion’s share of natural resources management for their respective recreation, this last quarter of 2010 will be an end to business as usual.

Most campaigns committed to shrink government and government spending. One area of downsizing will again be within the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (MDNRE). Approximately one third of the field staff will be eligible for retirement this year and the plan now is to only replace about half of those positions.

A proportionate shrinkage of the MDNRE administration can probably also be anticipated, at least at the helm as current Director, Rebecca Humphries, has decided to move onto other things.

It had been anticipated that Becky would be looking elsewhere ever since Governor Granholm made the job a political hire and merged the DNR with the DEQ. Prior to that, the director was hired and fired by the Natural Resources Commission.

In response to a communication sent her when I found out she had made the decision to leave, Ms. Humphries indicated she was not ready to retire, but wanted a new opportunity in the same field, and the time is right to do so. Her new post will put her in charge as director of one of four regions managed by Ducks Unlimited. The Great Lakes - Atlantic region is based in Ann Arbor and covers 18 states.

Becky Humphries is the tenth DNR director I’ve known since I first started learning about natural resources management back in 1975. Humphries, who had started employ with the MDNR under the Tanner administration, starting out in real estate as a property specialist, moving in 1981 to the Wildlife Division where she became chief in 1998 until 2004 when she took the position she holds today. Becky Humphries has remained as one of the most respected directors of the department in the last three decades.

Shortly after the department merger, a task force set out to find what the public wanted out of the MDNRE as far as service focus and expectations. Called “stakeholders forums”, conservation club representatives and select outdoors enthusiasts assembled in different areas across Michigan and were given the opportunity to speak freely, offering their particular critiquing.

Mark Dudah, Executive Director of a research firm, Responsive Management based in Virginia, headed each session and reported back to the Governor with results.

One of the most constant points of view came down to the need for adequate field staff, in all positions including forestry, biology and law enforcement. It also showed a need to provide more local input in the decision process. In my opinion, it means a return to local autonomy with less oversight by Lansing.

A part of this concept has been realized with the establishment of the two Citizen’s Advisory Councils that cover the eastern and western Upper Peninsula. The groups have built a protocol of operations when conducting their sessions and this is part of what will soon been seen as a regionalized department.

Michigan has been divided into four sections (regions): the Upper Peninsula as one and three others splitting the Lower Peninsula. Each region will have its own director and ours is Stacy Welling, who has been at the post as a field director for a couple of years now.

The biggest concern right now is the need to return field staff levels to what they were before the economy went sour. That means more money will be needed and the only way we’ll see it is through the fee structure we all use now. When I say we, I mean those of us who carry several licenses in our wallet that allows us the privilege to fish, hunt, trap, ride on snow or land, or float. The last time the subject came up, it de-railed in controversy.

There is strong support that if an increase is granted, a process done through the legislature, the end users want assurance the money will be invested in the field, either by project or personnel, and on a local focus.

That is why the deer hunting season may be the last time we see business as usual.

With all the changes expected, there will be a new legislature, a new MDNRE administration, a loss of one third of the intellectual property as staff retirements hit, a partial replacement of those who retire coming into play with far less historical background and perhaps a different fee structure or rate.

While most of this is dictated by the forever changed economy, is it also something that factions wanted to see for some time prior. It boils down to you ability to deal with change. For some there may be a lesson here in that you need to be careful for what you wish, as it just may come true.