From the Desk of John R. Griffin

To: All DNR Employees
From: John R. Griffin
Date: July 31, 2007
Re: Agency Reorganization

Dear Colleagues:

I am pleased to provide additional information about some of the restructuring decisions we have been working on in recent months, including plans to create several new organizational focus areas.

Before describing specific changes in detail, I want to emphasize that I view organizational structure as a tool that supports, but does not define, who we are or how we interact as coworkers. Structure is a starting point; your box on the chart is a place where you hang your hat when you arrive at work in the morning. But more than ever the big natural resource challenges that we face as Marylanders demand collaboration across the agency and with many partners.

I also want to acknowledge and thank you for your patience and support as we work through these changes. While change creates anxiety, I have been impressed by the general willingness to engage constructively in discussions about how best to position us for the future, and am particularly appreciative of the “can do” spirit and commitment to our mission that remains strong across the Department.

I will highlight here a few of the changes; others are reflected in the new organizational charts posted on our InTRAnet at http://intranet/orgchart.html; still a few others to come will be ironed out quickly. Please note that a few of these changes still require approval of the Department of Budget and Management, which is pending. Further, please rest assured that all of these changes will be made with the greatest efficiencies possible and the utmost attention to the State’s budget challenges; with few exceptions, these changes involve realignment of existing resources as opposed to requiring new resources.

While technical effective dates may come in stages, I have asked Eric and our Assistant Secretaries to begin effecting these changes -- in deed -- immediately.

Office of Sustainability

First, I am pleased to announce the creation of our first Office of Sustainability. From growth concerns to energy consumption to bay restoration, progress in one area depends upon progress in others. I know that you share with me a heightened sense of urgency and sense the need for bold, strategic action to make a difference. Under the umbrella of “Sustainability,” we will think more comprehensively about conserving natural resources in concert with sustaining quality of life for Marylanders, maintaining sustainable economic growth, and promoting behaviors that preserve what makes Maryland special for all of us.

To help guide this effort, we are pulling together a team from across the Department that will accumulate information, analyze trends, develop sustainability plans, work with units across the Department to coordinate action, and measure results under the Governor’s BayStat effort, StateStat and including new performance metrics. We are very pleased to announce that Dave O’Neill, the outstanding director of the Chesapeake Bay Trust, will be joining us to lead that Sustainability Office. He will be joined by a number of people, including Gene Piotrowski, Dave Goshorn, Ken Miller, Sandi Olek, Sean McGuire, Zoe Johnson, Christine Conn and Helen Stewart.

I am pleased to announce that Jeff Horan will be assuming leadership of Watershed Services, which will be restructured to improve focus on supporting local, on the ground conservation and restoration action.

Boating Services

Secondly, we are re-establishing a DNR Boating Services unit to bring together activities related to waterway improvement, Boat Act Advisory Committee, a number of boating and waterway planning functions, and our hydrographic support operations to better focus service and programs for boaters. We have asked Bob Gaudette to assume leadership of this unit and have asked a number of people, including Pam Lunsford and Lisa Gutierrez, to join Bob in that effort.

Land Planning & Acquisition

Next, I want to talk a bit about land planning and acquisition. We have been discussing with the Governor the need to do better at targeting and coordinating our land acquisition efforts. We have concluded that with limited personnel available and the need to stretch our land conservation dollars, a consolidation of these activities will yield efficiencies and be more effective. By organizing planning and acquisition staff regionally, with an updated Green Infrastructure and land targeting process already under development, and with support from the new Office of Sustainability, we can initiate a new approach to land conservation. We have asked Shaun Fenlon to move over from the Attorney General’s Office to head this group. Shaun will work closely with Chip Price and other members of those former units to create this new team.

This merger has also provided an opportunity to ask a few people to move to other units and take on high priority projects that could benefit from additional focus. Among these are Glen Carowan who will move to Wildlife & Heritage to assist Jonathan McKnight in developing and implementing a new Conservation Reserve Enhancement Plan focus, Ann Carlson who will move to Forestry to focus on new 10-year plans for the state forests, Butch Norden, who will move to Parks to assist in enhanced resource management efforts there. Charlie Mazurek will be moving to Engineering & Construction. Raj Williams and Deirdre Ritchie will move to Boating to assist in water trail and access planning. We are also asking John Wilson to take on a dual role coordinating a renewed statewide trails initiative along with regional leadership in land planning and acquisition.

Interdisciplinary Teams

We are creating three new interdisciplinary teams, which will again provide a way for us to plan and coordinate strategic action across the Department in key areas; others may be appointed from time to time. First, we are formalizing the Invasive Species Team under the joint leadership of Jonathan McKnight and Ron Klauda. This team, working informally for some time, will be asked to better focus our energies and strategies to deal with key invasive species threats.

We are also creating a team to improve our ability to engage youth in outdoor experience and stewardship. Moving beyond traditional conservation education efforts, and based on the popular “No Child Left Inside” theme advanced by Richard Louv, we envision engaging youth through a focus on public land based experiences. We have asked Nita Settina and Elena Takaki to lead that effort.

Another hallmark of our current society is conflict among diverse stakeholder groups. Often, our best attempts to move forward are slowed by competing interests and conflict. We are asking Paul Peditto and Joe Gill to work together on emerging concepts in stakeholder conflict resolution that can be applied to many of our most vexing problems across the Department. This will include training of employees to improve our skills in this area.

Workforce Planning

DNR faces big challenges in workforce planning, particularly in preparing future leaders to face the big strategic challenges on the horizon. We have asked Rick Barton to return in a new capacity, to develop and implement a creative new leadership development program. This program will provide tools, training and other opportunities for development of leadership capacity across our agency. Rick will co-lead this effort with HRS Director Lynda Nichols.

Finance & Administrative Services

Of course, our budgetary considerations impact everything we do, and will continue to challenge us as we work with the Governor to address Maryland’s looming structural deficit. I am extremely pleased that Mark Hoffman has agreed to move from Wildlife & Heritage to permanently lead our FAS staff.

If you are still with me, please forgive this necessarily long-winded explanation of some of the changes underway. Again, while we will be finalizing details for shifting to new assignments and addressing associated office space planning over the weeks ahead, many of our staff have already begun transitioning into their new roles and I expect the remaining changes to take place expeditiously.

Thank you to all of those who have worked hard on these new plans, and particular thanks to those willing to take on these new challenges. Please take the time to thank and congratulate your co-workers -- and welcome to our new organization!

Best regards,
John