Conservation adviser to Kasich steps down

In a scathing letter to Gov. John Kasich, one of his top advisers on hunting, fishing and conservation issues resigned over the weekend, accusing the state Department of Natural Resources of becoming “silent and indifferent to the issues of importance to the sportsmen and women of Ohio.”

“The truth is that the leadership of ODNR has no regard for the sportsmen and women of Ohio,” Mike Budzik said in his resignation letter. Budzik is a former chief of the department’s Division of Wildlife who had been paid $14,300 per year as a part-time policy liaison for Kasich to the hunting and fishing community.

Routine work is going undone because of a lack of money, including checking hunting and fishing licenses, responding to trespass calls and conducting hunting-safety courses, Budzik said. The state refuses to raise hunting and fishing fees to fund these issues, and it is dragging its feet on buying 60,000 acres from AEP, a deal he calls the “opportunity of a half century.”

“At this moment, the agency is short 25 officers because it cannot afford their salaries, or the cadet classes to recruit them,” Budzik wrote. “Five counties are vacant, having no wildlife officer at all. Issues like this are what has convinced many sportsmen that the administration is trying to financially starve the Wildlife Division to force consolidation of law enforcement.”

The mission of the Division of Wildlife, which began in 1873 to deal with declining fish populations in lakes and streams, has grown over the decades to oversee hundred of species of wild animals and manage endangered species in Ohio. Budzik favors raising fishing and hunting fees to fund those operations, but department Director James Zehringer recently said he opposes any fee increase for in-state hunting and fishing licenses, citing a decline in hunting and fishing.

“After nearly six years leading the agency, the first time the director speaks about one of our top concerns as a community is to use it as a tool to oppose a long-overdue increase in fees,” Budzik wrote.

Budzik’s letter also accused department officials of referring to members of national conservation organizations such as Ducks Unlimited as “cult members.”

“These people are passionate about what they believe and know,” Budzik wrote. “They should be shown some respect, not branded as members of some conservation ‘cult.’”

Budzik was a policy staff employee and did not receive health insurance. He was hired in 2013 and was paid $35 an hour and given a state car for travel.

Natural Resources spokeswoman Bethany McCorkle said that Budzik has been an advocate for Ohio wildlife conservation, and Zehringer appreciates his service.

Although five counties have no wildlife officer, it is not because of a lack of money but to better prioritize spending, McCorkle said. Rumors that the Wildlife Division is being eliminated and its employees folded into the department are false, she said.

Kasich spokeswoman Emmalee Kalmbach said of Budzik: “The governor appreciates his service and wishes him well.”

“Mike Budzik has dedicated his entire life to improving and advancing wildlife-conservation efforts in Ohio,” Evan Heusinkveld, president and CEO of Sportsmen’s Alliance, said in a statement Wednesday. “Mike has been one of the most honest, and dedicated, public servants that I have ever known.

“We share Mike’s deep concern about the funding crisis of the Division of Wildlife,” Heusinkveld said, and the need to prioritize the AEP land purchase.

Negotiations between the state and AEP over the purchase of the land — mostly reclaimed strip mines in Morgan, Muskingum, Noble and Guernsey counties — reportedly stalled earlier this year. The utility has allowed hunting and fishing on the land for five decades, Budzik said, but that could change if AEP sells it to private investors rather than the state. Also, the Buckeye Trail runs through the land, he said in an interview.

“I’m asking you to personally get involved with the AEP opportunity,” Budzik wrote to Kasich. “The loss of access to these lands would be a terrible blow to outdoor recreation in Ohio. This issue requires your leadership.”

Talks with AEP are ongoing and a top priority, McCorkle said.