Department of Natural Resources

Scheduled speaker DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp was stranded by weather in Racine, and Jean Romback-Bartels, DNR Regional Director from Green Bay stood in. The 18 year veteran with the DNR was named to her post in October of 2011. Romback-Bartels said the new secretary has fast tracked a department streamlining started in the past. A major change is that staff now reports directly to Madison so there is less disconnect with the regions throughout the state. The move has eliminated different answers to issues depending where they occur within regions and puts more responsibility on staff to implement decisions and policies. Romback-Bartels said her job now is to interface with citizens, local governments and business and industry in her 16-county region. The Fond du Lac native said she also is free to handle large projects for the secretary and select staff necessary to accomplish the directives. The DNR today, she said, is leaner than it was 10 to 15 years ago and new persons coming in are being integrated by seeking their ideas and perspectives while recognizing the way things were done in the past. It is a fine line, she admitted, dealing with competing ideas and still accomplish DNR mission of protection environment and preservation of and enforcing rules and laws. She answered questions – one dealing with the poor salmon harvest in the upper Lake Michigan and another on deer census. She said salmon has been planted but admitted ‘tongue in cheek’ fishing was terrible, but what fish would show itself to be caught or what deer (of which there are many) would show itself to be shot. Romback-Bartels said the DNR cooperates with neighboring states on issues but our jurisdiction ends at the state line.