At first glance, the O'Malley administration's proposed cuts at the Department of Natural Resources for the remainder of the fiscal year seem rather mild.
Eliminate the helicopter and its crew, and remove 23 vacant slots at Natural Resources Police for a total savings of $1.9 million.
On first glance, it's a quick fix and fairly bloodless, unless, of course, you're the whirlybird guys.
But it's not quite that simple. It never is.
And it's up to you to stop it.
Simply put, Natural Resources Police is a shell of its former self. A poor stepchild of Maryland State Police, the alpha male of state law enforcement agencies, NRP always gets the short end of the fiscal stick.
Sadly, when it's not being underfunded, NRP gets abused in other ways. Take the Ehrlich administration's public relations gimmick of making the force look bigger by transferring 91 park rangers to its ranks. That ended up being a zero gain because the additional manpower still didn't bring it up to full strength, and NRP had to add 47 parks and five state forests to its patrols.
Officers keep boaters safe, nail fish-and-game poachers and conduct search-and-rescue missions. But while NRP keeps getting fewer and fewer dollars and boots on the ground to cover its mission, politicians like Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Martin O'Malley keep piling on responsibilities, such as homeland security details. Something has to give, and I'm afraid it's going to be your safety and the protection of Maryland's fish and critters.
Cutting 23 vacant positions and the chopper team doesn't tell the story. Since the O'Malley administration won't tell you and Department of Natural Resources Secretary John Griffin can't undercut his boss by laying out the facts, here they are:
Eighteen years ago, the state's waterways, woods and parks were patrolled by 451 NRP officers and Maryland Park Service rangers.
From 2002 until this year, there were few recruits and no academy classes to train them. After the addition of the park rangers - carried out under the guise of "streamlining"- the total force was 289 officers.
Today, NRP has 55 unfilled positions. About 12 officers retire each year and 67 officers are eligible to retire right now.
How sad is that?
Granted, the state - like everyone else - is in a financial bind this year. The NRP reductions are a drop in the bucket when viewed as part of the $400 million in spending cuts O'Malley and the two other members of the state Board of Public Works will vote on Wednesday.
