Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced his five citizen member nominees to the new 17-member Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).

The LCCMR was created in legislation proposed by the Governor and signed into law earlier this year. It replaces the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCMR) as the body that makes funding recommendations to the Legislature from the Environment and Natural Resource Trust Fund for special environment and natural resource projects. Funding recommendations are typically for new, innovative, or accelerated projects designed to help sustain, enhance, and utilize Minnesota’s natural resources. The new LCCMR has 17-members – five citizens appointed by the Governor, one citizen appointed by the House and one appointed by the Senate, and ten legislators. The former LCMR had 20 members, all of whom were legislators.

Governor Pawlenty initiated reform of the conservation appropriations process in 2004, citing public concerns over past spending from the Environment and Natural Resource Trust Fund (ENRTF), which was created in the Minnesota Constitution in 1988 and is supported by 40 percent of net proceeds from Minnesota Lottery sales. The Constitution requires that, “The assets of the fund shall be appropriated by law for the public purpose of protection, conservation, preservation, and enhancement of the state’s air, water, land, fish, wildlife and other natural resources.”

“Ensuring that citizens have a seat at the table when these important conservation funding decisions are made will help us better protect and enhance Minnesota’s natural resources,” Governor Pawlenty said. “The creation of the LCCMR moves the process from citizen input and advice to one where citizens will be partners in how those investment choices are made. I’m pleased that after two years of work on this reform, we are now able to include the expertise and strategic thinking of some of Minnesota’s best and brightest conservation leaders in this process.”

The Governor’s five citizen nominees are:

• Alfred Berner of Good Thunder, a wildlife habitat consultant with doctorate and masters degrees in wildlife management from Michigan State University, and a life member of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, the National Rifle Association, the Ruffed Grouse Society and the Nature Conservancy. Berner will serve a term which ends January 5, 2009.
• Nancy Gibson of St. Louis Park, Co-founder of the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota Waterfowl Association Conservationist of the Year for 2002, Chair of the Minnesota Citizen Advisory Committee of the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund for 14 years, and a co-leader of the constitutional campaign to re-dedicate lottery funds for 25 years to the Trust Fund beginning in 2000. Gibson will serve a term which ends January 7, 2008.
• David Hartwell of Minneapolis has served in leadership positions for the Minnesota Nature Conservancy, the Parks and Trails Council of Minnesota, the Minnesota League of Conservation Voters, the Delta Waterfowl Association, the Bell Museum of Natural History, the Conservation Endowment Fund and served on the Citizens Advisory Council of the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund for two years. Hartwell will serve a term which ends January 4, 2010.
• John Hunt of Big Lake, an environmental engineer, earned his masters degree in civil engineering and water resources from Iowa State University. An avid hunter and angler, he has served as the Chair of Trout Unlimited’s national Embrace-A-Stream grant committee. Mr. Hunt has also served on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Motorized Trail Task Force from 2002-2003 and the Game and Fish Fund’s Ecological Services Oversight Subcommittee. Hunt will serve a term which ends January 5, 2009.
• Mary Mueller of Winthrop, Owner of Mueller’s Habitat Restoration, a prairie restoration business that plans and seeds prairie and wetland restorations. Ms. Mueller has degrees in ecology and agricultural research from Mankato State University and the University of Minnesota – Waseca. She is the Habitat Coordinator for McLeod County Pheasants Forever and vice president of the Wildlife Habitat Conservation Society. She operates a farm in Winthrop with portions of the land enrolled in RIM, CRP and CREP conservation program efforts. Mueller will serve a term which ends January 4, 2010.

The new LLCMR includes the following:

• Election of a chair that rotates between legislative and citizen members
• Adoption of a six-year strategic plan upon which to base funding decisions
• Utilization of statewide information gathering forums
• Appropriation of regional block grants and partnerships with existing organizations to address unique local needs and leverage additional funding
• Appointment of technical advisory and peer review committees, as necessary, to review funding proposals and evaluate project outcomes

A five member Trust Fund Citizen Selection Committee provided recommendations for LCCMR nominees to the Governor and House and Senate leaders. The Selection Committee members were Chair Joseph J. Duggan, D. Wayne Jacobson, Jr., Jane H. Kingston, Pam Landers, and Bev Nordby.