(Des Moines)– A spokesman for Governor-elect Chet Culver says Jeff Vonk will be replaced as Director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Culver spokesman Brad Anderson says Vonk will be replaced by veteran environmental activist Rich Leopold, who is currently the director of the Iowa Environmental Council.
Leopold is well known among lakes area environmentalists as he is a former Dickinson County Naturalist.
For Culver, it’s the most significant departure from Governor Vilsack as he appoints directors to state agencies. So far, he’s allowed several directors to remain on the job, including at the departments of Human Services, Transportation, Human Rights and Education.
Vonk agered many legislators by seeking to extend the power of the D-N-R to control licensing for big livestock production farms. The legislature approved a measure stripping Vonk of those powers, but it was vetoed by Vilsack.
If he remained on the job, Vonk likely would have faced a stiff challenge for confirmation in the Senate.
(Story from the Associated Press).
