By AP
LANSING, MI –
Gov. Rick Snyder has issued an executive order putting oversight of the state's natural resources and environmental quality into two departments instead of one.
The executive order is Snyder's first since he took office Saturday. It will take effect March 13.
Gov. John Engler separated the natural resources and environmental quality functions into different agencies in 1995, but Gov. Jennifer Granholm rejoined them in 2009 in a cost-saving move.
Snyder now says the job would best be handled by two agencies.
The Office of the Great Lakes under director Patricia Birkholz will move to the Department of Environmental Quality under the executive order.
Dan Wyant will head the Department of Environmental Quality, and Rodney Stokes will head the Department of Natural Resources.