Governor Gretchen Whitmer has appointed former DNR Director Becky Humphries to a seat on the Michigan Natural Resources Commission, which oversees the DNR’s operations and sets outdoors policy for the state.
Humphries worked for the DNR from 1981 to 2010, and was its director from 2004 until 2010, after being appointed by former Governor Jennifer Granholm as the first woman to ever hold the position.
Her appointment is for a term that began last Thursday and runs through March of 2028. It is subject to advise and consent of the Michigan Senate, and Upper Peninsula State Senator Ed McBroom (R-Norway) is not in favor of the appointment.
“She was the first director after the governor (Granholm) took power from the commission and gave it to the director,” McBroom said. “She left us a huge mess by declaring legal property for many farmers and ranchers to be illegal. Lawsuits which have cost the state millions, as it repeatedly loses.”
McBroom, a farmer from Dickinson County who has worked on Natural Resources issues during his 13 years in both the Michigan House and Michigan Senate, was not a fan of Humphries’ years as DNR director.
“She created a tension and animosity between the department and the commission that is unhelpful to all sportsmen, and sound, scientific management of our game,” McBroom said. “I hope, now that she is on the commission, she will recognize some of the disaster these changes have created.”
While McBroom opposes Humphries being on the NRC, the Michigan Senate is controlled by Democrats who are unlikely to oppose Whitmer’s appointments to boards and commissions.
Humphries was inducted into the Michigan United Conservation Clubs Hall of Fame in 2023. She served as the CEO of the National Wild Turkey Federation, and has retired as the CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. She holds a Bachelor of Science in wildlife biology from Michigan State University.
—Photo courtesy of the Michigan United Conservation Clubs
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