Evers taps climate change activist to lead DNR

After letting the top spot at the state’s powerful natural resources agency sit vacant for more than a year, Gov. Tony Evers announced just before Christmas the appointment Dr. Karen Hyun to serve as its secretary.  

Hyun’s first day on the job as Department of Natural Resources (DNR) secretary will be January 27. Republicans welcomed an appointment but expressed some early concerns about Hyun’s qualifications.

Evers harbored no doubts.

“Dr. Hyun’s extensive science background and expertise working in fish and wildlife, shoreline restoration, and coastal management and resilience will make her a great asset to the Department of Natural Resources and to our administration,” Evers said. “Having spent most of her career working in environmental policy, Dr. Hyun brings a wealth of experience navigating many of the issues the department is charged with managing every day, and I’m so excited for her to get started.”

Hyun said she was honored to accept the appointment.

“Wisconsin is known for its abundance of natural resources, wildlife, and outdoor recreation opportunities, and I have spent much of my life dedicated to understanding, conserving, and promoting the natural resources and spaces that we all know and love,” Hyun said. “I look forward to working alongside the dedicated DNR staff to ensure that Wisconsin’s ecosystems, wildlife, natural spaces, and resources remain accessible, safe, and available for generations of Wisconsinites to come.”

Evers said Hyun has extensive experience working on natural resources, stewardship, and conservation issues, most recently serving as an appointee of President Joe Biden as chief of staff of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) since 2021. 

Before that, Hyun worked as a staffer starting in 2009 for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Natural Resources. In 2012, Hyun served in the Obama administration as a senior policy advisor to the secretary of Commerce and also the chief of staff for the department’s Office of the Deputy Secretary in 2013.

Hyun then became the senior advisor for NOAA in June 2014 before becoming the deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife, and parks at the Department of the Interior in 2015, the governor’s office states. She also led and coordinated initiatives focused on coastal resilience, Gulf of Mexico restoration, marine conservation, and coastal stewardship at the National Audubon Society, serving as the director of water and coastal policy before becoming the vice president of coastal conservation in 2018, the governor’s office stated.

Hyun earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Earth Systems from Stanford University in California and a doctorate in Marine Affairs from the University of Rhode Island. Hyun lives with her husband and children in Madison.

In Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association (WWA) praised the appointment.

“Dr Hyun’s history of commitment to science-based management of wildlife resources and broad executive leadership carries credibility that will serve Wisconsin well,” Bruce Ross, WWA executive director, said. “We look forward to meeting with Dr. Hyun as she settles in to continue our collaborative work on common issues in the months ahead.”

Republicans skeptical

Republicans said they looked forward to a dialogue with Hyun but expressed some early concerns.

For his part, Senate majority leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) observed that Evers chose to announce Hyun’s appointment at 5 a.m. two days before Christmas, after a year without an agency secretary, during which time LeMahieu said the department and the governor made meaningful policy decisions impacting taxpayers and Wisconsin’s natural resources, including what LeMahieu called a reckless veto of PFAS legislation.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t just insider politics,” LeMahieu said. “There are families who should have clean water this Christmas who don’t because of the governor’s irresponsible PFAS veto. If the governor had appointed a qualified DNR secretary after former-secretary [Adam] Payne’s departure, their counsel may have saved the governor from that critical mistake.”

Taxpayers deserve accountability and transparency from their government, LeMahieu said. 

“The Evers administration continues to deny them both,” he said. “Senate Republicans look forward to meeting with Dr. Hyun to discuss her qualifications to serve as Wisconsin’s DNR secretary as we fulfill our constitutional duty of advice and consent.”

Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) also had some concerns, though she said she was glad an appointment had been made.

“I am pleased to see that, after more than a year, the governor has finally appointed a new DNR secretary,” Felzkowski said. “While Ms. Hyun’s lack of professional experience in Wisconsin and lack of experience with sporting heritage, forestry, and freshwater lakes is concerning, I look forward to getting to know her and understanding her vision for the DNR.”

Felzkowski said the appointment was of particular interest to her, given that she represented one of the largest rural districts in Wisconsin and has served on various committees that govern those issue areas. She said she had also focused on the DNR during her time on the Joint Committee on Finance.

“Given the district that I represent, the issues surrounding the DNR are of utmost importance to both me and my constituents,” Felzkowski said. “I look forward to working with Ms. Hyun to ensure that the DNR works diligently on all aspects of natural resources and for all areas of Wisconsin.”

During her time at the Audubon Society, while working as director of water and coastal policy and then as its vice president of coastal conservation, Hyun embraced the more radical assessments of climate change as articulated by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 

For example, in one article in 2019, she picked up on an IPCC report detailing the effects of climate change on the ocean, which projected catastrophic increases in sea level rise because of man-made global warming.

“The first of its kind, this report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change illustrates the need to take dramatic action to protect the ocean, as well as the birds, wildlife and people that depend on a healthy ocean,” Hyun wrote. “While the forecast is dire, this is a call to action. We’re not too late to take action on climate change and protect the ocean for the seabirds, wildlife, and people who depend on it.”

Hyun wrote that Audubon was already working toward climate solutions reaching 50 percent renewable-power generation by 2030; enhancing the “natural infrastructure” of the coasts, including wetlands, mangroves, seagrass beds, and marshes that store carbon, buffer coastal communities from the wind and waves of increasing storms, and provide important bird habitat; and establishing marine protected areas and undisturbed habitats for seabirds, fish, and other marine life.

Richard Moore is the author of “Dark State” and may be reached at richardd3d.substack.com.