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The governor of Maine continues to push for reorganization of this state's natural resource agencies. Now, he proposes to do away with the state's Bureau of Public Lands and have the Maine Forest Service take on its responsibilities, which include state parks.
This seems odd. So, I wonder if any other states have a structure where the forest service oversees parks.
I'd appreciate your insight.
In SC we have separate Parks and Forestry agencies.
Forestry Commission is independent agency in MS. State Parks are under MS Wildlife,Fisheries, and Parks. Most would say not a good idea.
In Wva, forestry is a stand alone agency, but under the Department of commerce. WV Dnr and parks are within the same agency, which is also under department of commerce.
Here in Minnesota forestry is a division under our Department of Natural Resources which also has divisions for Ecological Services/Waters, Park & Trails, Fisheries & Wildlife, and Lands & Minerals. Since they are all under one roof so to speak there is little discussion regarding merging divisions or moving divisions to other agencies.
Doug Thomas
In Maryland the Dept of Natural Resources houses the state forest service and oversees public lands (including parks). These are separate divisions under the same agency.
Missouri State Parks is within the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The Missouri Department of Conservation has oversight for fish, forest and wildlife.
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