DEC staff budget cuts

[L&M]

DEC staff budget cuts will create problems for state's hunting, fishing scene

Published: Friday, November 26, 2010, 6:08 AM

David Figura/The Post-Standard

It’s no secret that the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which manages the state’s fish and wildlife scene along with monitoring and protecting New York’s environmental health, is hurting these days.

Last month, DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis was fired for “insubordination and incompetence†following the release of a memo he drafted outlining the current state of the Department and the impact, in his opinion, of additional 200 cuts the governor’s office had ordered.

“Many of our programs are hanging by a thread,†Grannis said. “The public would be shocked to learn how thin we are in many areas.â€

The memo warned that fewer polluted sites would be cleaned, stocking of game fish could be halted and fewer regulators would be available to oversee the expected natural gas drilling boom in the Marcellus Shale that extends into southern New York.

This week, nearly 160 pink slips were handed out statewide in the DEC. Members of state advisory boards to the DEC who usually are in close contact with department are in the dark about the impact of the cuts.

Howie Cushing, president of the New York State Conservation Council, along with Chuck Parker, of Mexico, who also serves on the council, were among those who attended a recent marathon, nine-hour Assembly hearing that looked at the DEC’s staffing levels.

The two men told me:

- During the past couple of months, the DEC’s Region 7 office in Cortland has lost five senior employees to early retirement — a wildlife technician, three senior wildlife biologists and the natural resources supervisor. They’re not being replaced and the loss of their institutional knowledge will undoubtedly have an impact on local programs, Parker said

- The state did not train any new environmental conservation officers this year and there’s no plans for an academy to be held in 2011. Figure in early retirements and the natural turn-over of employees, and only it makes sense that there will be less staff out in the field statewide doing less enforcement of the state’s fish and game and environmental laws.

“Right now we have 300 to 325 conservation officers across the state,†Cushing said. “The way things are going right now, we’re going to be down 70 to 80 officers in the coming year.â€

- Asked about the hatchery system, Cushing pointed out the state has 13 hatcheries, which the DEC has said takes 80 people to keep them going at their current level of service.

“Right now we’re down to 67 staffers and through layoffs and retirements, we’re probably going to lose another 5 to 6 workers.â€

- The state’s Conservation fund, which is fed by hunting, fishing and trapping license fees, pays for the salaries and benefits of 340 of the 360 employees in the DEC’s Department of Fish and Wildlife and Marine Services.

- Since 2007, that department has seen a 50 percent cut in non-personnel-related allocations, such as paper, computers, cell phones and most importantly, mileage allocations that allow the staff to travel out in the field to do research or to even attend meetings.

“How can the wild life biologists do their jobs if they can’t get the gas mileage to go out and do their work?†Cushing asked.

Granted, every state department is facing cuts. But what Cushing, Parker and others say is that Gov. Patterson’s cuts are being “unfairly†applied to the DEC. The point out the DEC is being asked to make the same percentage of staff cuts as other state departments that are 100-percent state taxpayer supported, with no consideration of actual savings to the state’s general fund.

This is significant because a total of 75 percent of the overall DEC budget is funded by outside sources, other than taxes, the two men said.

Among the largest sources is the $50 million state Conservation Fund. Another $15 to $18 billion dollars comes from federal grants and programs with matching federal money, Cushing said.

Last year, when the state hiked sportsmen’s licenses across the board, sportsmen were promised by the DEC it would maintain the services and programs paid for out of the Conservation Fund at “existing levels.†So much for promises.

The bottom line is that if DEC staff are cut who perform services and programs paid for by the state’s Conservation Fund or by federal dollars, there is no overall savings to the taxpayers, Cushing and Parker note.

Why is this all significant? Parker said the state’s recreational fishing generates about $6 billion a year to the state’s economy, with hunting and trapping approaching the $2 to 3 billion mark. Recreational boating contributes another estimated $5 billion each year.

“It’s like if I gave you $100 and can show a $600 return, that’s a pretty good investment,†he said. “But if you take away the person who can implement or who can apply for that money... the over-all losses are even greater.â€

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

The last 2 paragraphs are exactly why the DEC and the State goverment must be run like a business. Absolutely beyond idiotic to cut anything that has to with "the Golden Goose".