Qualifications of the secretary of natural resources and qualifications of members of the Natural Resources Board

Under current law, the Natural Resources Board consists of seven members nominated by the governor and with the advice and consent of the senate appointed for six-year terms. Current law requires that at least three of the members be from north, and at least three of the members be from south, of a line running east and west through the southern limits of the city of Stevens Point.

This bill requires that, beginning in 2016, at least one member of the Natural Resources Board have an agricultural background, at least one member have a business background, and at least one member have an environmental background.

The bill also requires that, beginning in 2016, at least four members of the Natural Resources Board have held a hunting, fishing, or trapping license in at least seven of the ten years before the year of nomination. If an individual served on active duty in the military during the ten years before nomination, the number of years in which the individual is required to have held an annual hunting, fishing, or trapping license equals seven minus the number of years of active duty.