Roseville Man Appointed To DNR Committee

From DNR press release:

The head of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) this week has appointed a Roseville man among several citzens to the newly-created Fisheries Oversight Committee.

Among the appointees to the Fisheries committee is John Schneider, of Roseville. This committee has 12 other citizen appointiments.

Meanwhile, the state agency also named 12 citizens to it Wildlife Oversight Committee. According to a DNR press release, the two new citizen committees have been formed to monitor fish and wildlife spending the agency.

The two new committees are the result of recent legislation aimed at streamlining and improving the efficiency of long-standing citizen Game and Fish Fund oversight committees created in 1994, the DNR said.

The 25 citizen appointees are responsible for reviewing the agency’s annual Game and Fish Fund report. After discussions with agency leaders and others, the citizen committees write a report on their findings of this review.
 
“We look forward to working with these citizen volunteers,” Bob Meier, DNR policy and government relations director, said in a statement. “By sharing budget information and getting input from citizens, we increase transparency of our funding decisions. It’s a process that assures license buyers and legislators that these funds are targeted at fish and wildlife programs, and we’re pleased about that.”
 
The DNR’s Game and Fish Fund is the fiscal foundation for much of the state’s natural resource management. The $90 million fund gets its revenue from the sales of hunting and fishing licenses and fish and wildlife stamps; a sales tax on lottery tickets; a reimbursement based on a federal excise tax on hunting, fishing and boating equipment; and other sources.
 
The fund pays for the fish, wildlife, enforcement and ecological management that support 54,000 jobs in Minnesota’s outdoor recreation and hospitality business, the DNR said.
 
More than 50 people applied for oversight committee positions. Factors in choosing the new appointees included a mix of hunting and angling interests, geographic distribution, and past experience with oversight of the Game and Fish Fund.
 
Here is the complete list of the appointments made by DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr:

Fisheries Oversight Committee:
John Christian, Apple Valley; Lance Frank, Albert Lea; Marj Hart, St. Michael; Jeff Johnson, New London; John Lenczewski, Eden Prairie; Craig Pagel, Duluth; Peter Perovich, Ramsey; Charles Prokop, Hugo; Ryan Saulsbury, Baxter; John Schneider, Roseville; George Selcke, Minnetonka; Dave Thompson, Battle Lake; Pao Yang, St. Paul.

Wildlife Oversight Committee:
Kevin Bigalke, Lakeville; Jeff Byrne, Victoria; William Faber, Brainerd; Mark Jeffrey Flen, Lakeville; Cody Fox, Austin; Chuck Kartak, North Branch; Jerome Roehl, Walker; Deb Luzinski, Woodbury; Steve Okins, Willmar; Paul Spyhalski, Austin; Kong siab Thao, Little Canada;
Robert Theobald, Owatonna.
 
Past Game and Fish Fund reports and oversight reports are available at (www.dnr.state.mn.us/gamefishoversight/reports.html).