Wisconsin Gov. Evers finally appoints new DNR secretary after yearlong search

By TODD RICHMOND The Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has finally picked a new leader for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

The governor announced Monday that he has appointed Karen Hyun as the agency’s secretary. Hyun has worked as chief of staff of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration since 2021. She worked as the National Audubon Society’s director of water and coastal policy before becoming vice president of coastal conservation in 2018. She also served as deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks at the Department of the Interior in 2015.

The secretary position has been vacant since Adam Payne quit in early November 2023 after just 10 months on the job. Asked in an email Monday why the search took so long, Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback responded by saying “we can refer you to the governor’s many previous comments.” She did not elaborate.

Evers said in January 2024 that the Senate Republicans have made it harder to find a new secretary.

Republican lawmakers for years have treated the DNR with disdain, criticizing the agency for being too draconian in regulating pollution, buying too much land for preservation and delivering anemic deer hunts in the state’s northern forests.

Tension has been running especially high between the GOP and the agency since Evers first took office in 2019.

Fred Prehn, a member of the DNR’s policy board appointed by then-Republican Gov. Scott Walker refused to vacate his seat for more than a year after his term ended in May 2021, maintaining a 4-3 majority on the board for Republican appointees.

The Republican-controlled Senate voted to reject four of Evers’ five appointees to the board in October 2023. Four Evers appointees currently serving on the board have yet to get a confirmation vote.

“It makes it more difficult just to hire a DNR secretary,” Evers told Wisconsin Public Radio then. “We’ll get somebody. We’ll get a good person. But to have that hanging over their head, and then having decisions being made by that person based upon ‘Am I going to be hired, approved by the Senate?’ That’s just wrong.”

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu issued a statement Monday saying Republicans “look forward” to meeting with Hyun to discuss her qualifications. He didn’t offer any hints about whether she would win confirmation.

Gubernatorial appointees in Wisconsin can serve without affirmative confirmation votes until the Senate formally votes to reject their appointments.

LeMahieu went on in his statement to attack Evers for failing to replace Payne sooner. He said a qualified DNR leader might have persuaded the governor to sign a Republican bill in April that would have created grants to fight contamination by a group of chemicals known as PFAS. Evers vetoed the bill, saying it would have limited the DNR’s authority to hold polluters accountable. Both sides have spent the last eight months blaming the other for killing the bill.

PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are human-made chemicals that don’t easily break down in nature. They are found in a wide range of products, including cookware and stain-resistant clothing, and previously were often used in aviation fire-suppression foam. The chemicals have been linked to health problems including low birth weight, cancer and liver disease, and have been shown to make vaccines less effective.

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This version corrects the spelling of the agency secretary’s first name to Karen.