Married. Divorced. Re-married. Divorced. That’s the continuing saga of Michigan’s Natural Resources (DNR) and Environmental Quality (DEQ) Departments.

Governor-elect Rick Snyder announced his intention to re-separate the two departments after  Governor Granholm brought them back together last year.

How does this affect us? Perhaps not much. There was a concern about combining the two departments and losing some focus on natural resources.

The DNR, DEQ, and Department of Agriculture will now report to Quality of Life group executive Dan Wyant, a former director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture .

Snyder said, “I’m bringing in a business model approach that is much more effective and efficient.”

This management model is similar to the one Detroit Mayor Dave Bing implemented last year.

New DNR Director

Perhaps what will affect us more than this re-structuring is  Snyder’s naming of Rodney Stokes as DNR Director.

Stokes has been with the DNR for many years and filled many roles, including director of state parks from 1996 to 2002. He is currently chief of the DNRE Office of Science and Policy.

He even retired from the state at one point and worked as the deputy director for the Detroit Recreation Department before returning to the DNR.

Stokes was also a member of the East Riverfront Study Group in 2002 which helped get us to the Detroit RiverWalk we have today.

He is well aware of the importance of trails and urban parks — and we think that’s a very good thing.

Michigan’s next governor has been making some intriguing appointments that initially look favorable to biking and trails.

According to Crain’s Detroit Business, Bill Rustem will serve as the director of strategy.

Rustem will help implement the policies and initiatives needed to reinvent Michigan, Snyder’s spokesman said.

“Bill understands how to implement good policy and make government more responsive to the people it serves,” Snyder said in a statement. “Bill will help my administration implement the vision to reinvent state government so it brings value to people’s lives.”

Rustem served as Milliken’s chief staff adviser on environmental matters and as interim director of the Toxic Substances Control Commission. Milliken was widely regarded as a moderate Republican. Rustem was also instrumental in the 1976 campaign for Michigan’s bottle deposit law and helped create Michigan’s Natural Resources Trust Fund. He is an adjunct professor at Michigan State University.

And as we noted earlier, Rustem was also a board member of the Michigan chapter of the Rails to Trails Conservancy.

Could he help us connect Complete Streets, trails, urban renewal, and youth retention within the governor’s office?

Another Crain’s article reveal Dennis Muchmore’s appointment as chief of staff.

His background includes previously serving as executive director of the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, vice president at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, and as a member of Oakland University‘s board of trustees. Muchmore currently is on the state’s Climate Action Council and is chair of the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund board.

Yes, another Trust Fund person and someone who understands DNRE issues — this is good.

We’ve spoken in the past with Muchmore and he’s expressed his interest in bringing Trust Fund dollars to urban trail projects.

Just some quick observations…

Michigan House

We lose cycling supporter (and Tour de Troit rider) Rep. Gabe Leland due to term limits. However, his replacement is cycling and trails advocate  Harvey Santana.

Former Detroit City Councilmember Alberta Tinsley-Talabi was elected to the State House. She was a solid supporter of Detroit’s non-motorized plan on Council.

Michigan Senate

Rep. Coleman Young II, who sat on the House Transportation Committee and supported the Complete Streets legislation, is now heading to the Michigan Senate.

Michigan Governor

We didn’t know if there was much of a difference between the two gubernatorial candidates. Though Rick Synder was called out on the pedestrian bridge comment, he noted that he supported bike-friendly, walkable communities. He also pledged to help strengthen the city of Detroit. And, insider talk says Bill Rustem may play a key role in they Synder administration. Rustem is a former board member of the Michigan chapter of the Rails to Trails Conservancy and a board emeritus for the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance.

The bigger question is what will happen with MDOT. Will MDOT Director Kirk Steudle remain? Under his leadership, MDOT supported the Complete Streets legislation. He also authored that great letter about Complete Streets.

U.S. Congress

The huge loss of Congressman James Oberstar of Minnesota is quite devastating for bicycle advocacy in the U.S.  Andy Clarke, Executive director of the League of American Bicyclists says, “I’m not going to lie – I’m depressed.”

Congresswoman Carolyn Kilpatrick lost in the primary and was a member of the bicycle caucus. She’s replaced by Hansen Clarke.

Congressman Mark Schauer had become a supporter of bicycling, especially through the efforts of PEAC. He lost his seat to Tim Walberg.

And overall the lost of Democratic control of the House will have a major impact on bicycling. It makes John Boehner the Speaker and he has some history of not being too bike friendly. And it might take a whole lot more work to make the  next transportation bill bike friendly.

As Clarke said, we’re now on the defensive.

We submitted comments on gubernatorial candidate Rick Synder’s web site regarding his comments on the US23 pedestrian bridge.

We noted that the true inefficiencies in Michigan transportation lie in the structure. There are 50-some communities in Oakland County alone that receive road funding. There is significant room for consolidation.

We also noted that there are 81 county road commissions which are separate from county government, many if not all of which are not beholden to the public.

This is the response we received:

Thank you for your inquiry.  I would like to clarify that Rick does not oppose bike trails.  He is a big supporter of bikeable and walkable cities.  What Rick said during the debate is that we need to prioritize funds better.  Despite the fact that he is supportive of building new bike bridges, he thinks that it is a higher priority to reinforce dangerously crumbling bridges that thousands of people drive over every day.

The point you make about non accountable agencies is an interesting one.  I am not intimately familiar with how Rick’s ideas for transportation reform but I can tell you that he is committed to bringing greater efficiency and common sense to MDOT and transportation in Michigan as a whole.

Please continue to follow Rick’s campaign and let us know if we can be of any assistance to you.

Sincerely,

The Reinvent Michigan Team

There’s a clear need to educate candidates such as Rick Snyder and others on the efficiency benefits of consolidation within Michigan’s transportation funding environment.

One first step would be to make it easier for counties to have their own road agencies and eliminate their county road commissions. This consolidation would eliminate duplicate administration and make them accountable to elected officials. It would also bring together county planning with road planning, which could result in significant savings through proper land use planning.

However, under current state law this consolidation is prohibited for all but two counties — Wayne and Macomb. State law also requires counties to become charter counties first, something that takes significant time and money.

And when Macomb County adopted a charter a year ago, 64% of their voters also chose to dissolve their road commission.

We should make it easier for voters in the other 81 Michigan counties to consolidate and save taxpayer money.

We recently received this press release:

BICYCLISTS, PEDESTRIANS TO ASSEMBLE AT RICK SNYDER CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS, SEEKING CLARIFICATION ON BIKE/PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE

This Friday, Oct. 15, at 1 pm, bicyclists and pedestrians are gathering at Republican governor candidate Rick Snyder’s downtown Ann Arbor campaign office to ask for clarification regarding his criticism of a local bicycle and pedestrian bridge project in last Sunday’s debate.

Asked whether he supported an increase in the Michigan gas tax, Snyder cited a new bicycle and pedestrian bridge over US-23 at Geddes, near his Ann Arbor home, as an example of inefficient state transportation spending.

“They just built a bike and pedestrian bridge across US-23 at the cost of millions of dollars,” Snyder said. “What they didn’t bother to tell us is a quarter mile south that there’s a bridge over the Huron River and there’s a bike and pedestrian path there. So let’s get efficient about where we’re deploying these dollars.”

Bicycling and walking advocates found Snyder’s comments perplexing, given the candidate’s previously stated support for “walkable cities” and “green infrastructure.” Led by the Washtenaw Bicycling and Walking Coalition, University of Michigan Bicycle Coalition, League of Michigan Bicyclists, and Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance, they are assembling to seek answers to the apparent discrepancy.

“The statement was surprising more than anything else,” said the U-M Bicycle Coalition’s Joel Batterman, a first-year urban planning student from Ann Arbor. “Snyder’s platform makes it clear that he favors improving the quality of life in Michigan cities, and he specifically mentions walkability in his policy statement on retaining young people. We’re confused on how the statement in the debate relates to that position. We hope it’s just a misunderstanding about the bridge’s location and funding.” While an existing bicycle and pedestrian path passes under US-23 on the south side of the Huron River, no crossing exists to the north between the river and Earhart Road, isolating Concordia College and northeast Ann Arbor from that path system.

In an attempt to clarify Snyder’s position, area pedestrians and bicyclists will gather on the U-M Diag this Friday, October 15, starting at 12:30 pm. At 12:45, they will depart for Snyder’s downtown office, arriving at 1 pm to present a letter inviting Snyder to tour the new bridge by bike and attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony next week. As a matter of fairness, or “bike-partisanship,” the groups will also extend an invitation to Democratic candidate Virg Bernero.

“No matter who’s elected,” Batterman said, “a safe bicycle and pedestrian network will set us on the path towards a more sustainable, prosperous future, one that’s healthy for all Michiganders.”