9-24-13 dnr critic

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A former head of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says the agency is "absent without leave" when it comes to policy.  George Meyer led the DNR from 1993 to 2001. He's now the executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation.  Meyer says that he sees politics playing a role in conservation with Republicans recently pushing through a mining bill to pave the way for a proposed iron mine in northern Wisconsin and the awarding of a state grant to a politically connected group. The $500,000 grant to the United Sportsmen of Wisconsin was later revoked.  Meyer says conservation should be a bipartisan issue.