She wants things done a certain way.
Her way.
And Gov. Kristi Noem expects the people she appoints to understand that, to agree to that, and to remember that.
That’s probably why two important spots on the eight-member state Game, Fish, and Parks Commission remain unfilled half a year after they came open.
Because of the way the board is designed, these two spots should go, according to state law, to candidates who are not Republicans. And by general tradition, they should go to urban (sportsmen) candidates, rather than additional farmers or ranchers. One of the appointees must be from East River and one from West River.
The law doesn’t say they can’t be Republicans. It says no more than four members of the commission can be from the same party. And there are already four Republicans on the commission. The law also says at least four members will be farmers or ranchers. Those spots are filled. By tradition, if not by law, the other four members have been urban (sportsmen) representatives.
Three must be from West River, and five from East River.
So, essentially, the spots are for Democrats (though they could be independents or Libertarians), and for people expected to represent a non-landowner, more urban-view of hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation.
That is to say, sportsmen and sportswomen.
And the delay has sportsmen’s groups around the state concerned.
“Sportsmen are not being represented fully on the commission right now,” says Jeff Olson of Rapid City, a former GF&P Commission chairman and long-time leader in the Black Hills Sportsmen’s Club. “That is not right.”
Dozens, maybe scores, maybe even more names have been submitted or discussed through GF&P as candidates for the two spots. I’ve heard some of them. They were good candidates. They didn’t get picked.
I’m not sure how many made it from GF&P to the governor, where Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden, a West River rancher, has a role and a keen interest in protecting landowner rights.
But plenty of names went there and plenty of names were rejected.
None satisfied Noem. Well, maybe one. GF&P Secretary Kevin Robling told the Black Hills Sportsmen last week that one of the spots has been filled. That announcement is being held back pending the selection of the other commissioner.
When will we know?
I sent an email to Robling Tuesday morning asking for an update. By the close of state business later in the day, I hadn’t heard back. Noem Communications Director Ian Fury did get back to me with a short email response:
“We’ve been working through the interview process and should have an announcement for you soon,” Fury wrote.
It certainly was some time-consuming working through. Selection standards, I’d guess, were pretty rigid.
At least one commissioner has made it clear that Noem expected her philosophy to be followed if the person was appointed. That’s understandable, up to a point. But there has traditionally been some room for GF&P commissioners to follow their own hearts and minds and beliefs in their votes, even if they sometimes differed from the governor who appointed them.
There weren’t any litmus tests, as there apparently are today.
“When I first got appointed, I’m not sure (former Gov. Mike) Rounds even knew who I was,” Olson said, half-joking.
What Rounds surely must have known — if only because staff would have informed him — was that Olson, a Democrat, is the son of former South Dakota Democratic Party Chairwoman Judy Olson Duhamel, who also served as a state senator. If that mattered to Rounds or people on his staff, it didn’t show when it came time to select Olson, who was highly recommended by sportsmen.
That’s a good thing. And some independence on the commission is more than a good thing. It’s an essential thing. And it has historically been a GF&P thing.
But things seem to have changed with Kristi Noem as governor. The commission and the department have done things and agreed to things and promoted things I never would have expected. A number of those things upset sportsmen. And they were things that clearly seemed to have been demanded from the governor’s office.
The joke around sportsmen’s groups as they wait for the commission spots to be filled is that Noem was having trouble finding a Democrat who would agree to do what she wants. That’s probably a case of much truth being said in jest.
None of that means that the eventual choices will automatically be “yes” people no matter what. We have to assume they’ll follow their hearts and minds and personal beliefs when it’s called for.
And we’ll have to hope they’ll be given a bit of room to do that, despite what the long interview process and Noem’s way of governing might seem to indicate.
