This is not about Jeff Vonk, whose last day as director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources was Thursday.
It's not about Rich Leopold, either, who left the top job at the nonprofit Iowa Environmental Council to replace Vonk.
Both are talented and passionate about protecting the outdoors.
It's
about Gov. Chet Culver, who made the decision to change the leadership
of the agency, which oversees environmental regulation of the state's
powerful livestock industry.
It makes us wonder whether Culver was sending a dangerous message: Don't say or do anything to upset Big Agriculture.
Vonk did both.
He was an advocate for giving counties local control over where large animal-feeding operations locate within their borders.
And
he won a sliver of DNR discretion over issuing permits for new or
expanding large livestock facilities, based on environmental concerns
beyond requirements in state law.
Most farm groups oppose both, and that's their prerogative.
And we understand it's the governor's prerogative to nominate whomever he wants to run executive-branch departments.
That
said, we hope observers are wrong if they read anything more into
Vonk's departure than Culver simply wanting another person to head a
key department.
Culver has an obligation to foster a free and
open debate about a highly emotional issue damaging Iowa's quality of
life: Iowans have never come to grips with how to better balance the
interests of the state's valuable livestock industry with those of
neighbors who are sick of the stench. Or how to better safeguard the
state' waterways from pollution.
During Culver's campaign, he supported local control of livestock facilities.
We hope he does not shy away from that now.
And
we hope he was not sending a signal to his appointees, other state
workers or anyone else that he wants to squelch debate. Iowa will
always benefit from an unfettered discussion, whatever the issue.
