WI Gov. Scott Walker Wishes DNR Happy Earth Day by Threatening Layoffs

Scott Walker, the barely sentient potato who’s been elected governor of Wisconsin not once, not twice, but three times, is celebrating Earth Day in his own special way. Throughout the week, nearly 60 employees of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources have received notice that they might soon be laid off.

Lee Bergquist of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

Fifty-seven employees of the state Department of Natural Resources began receiving formal notices this week that they might face layoff as part of Gov. Scott Walker’s budget for the next two fiscal years.

DNR spokesman Bill Cosh said that of that number, 27 employees are in the Bureau of Science Services, a unit of the DNR where Walker is proposing significant cuts.

The bureau performs significant research duties for the DNR, and the cuts have come under fire from wildlife and environmental groups who say research is the underpinning of many agency activities.

As a part of Walker’s proposed budget, a total of 66 positions would be cut from the DNR. “Of this,” Bergquist reports, “More than 25% would come from the science group.”