Wisconsin Agency Bans Activism on Climate

CHICAGO — A small Wisconsin agency that manages thousands of acres of state land has banned its 10 employees from working on issues while on the job.

The measure was passed by a 2-to-1 vote on Tuesday during a board meeting of the Republican-controlled agency, the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, which manages more than $1 billion in trust assets, including 77,000 acres of land, mostly in heavily forested northern Wisconsin.

One official who voted in favor of the ban, Brad D. Schimel, the state’s attorney general and a Republican, declined to answer questions about his vote. According to a recording of the meeting, a copy of which was provided to The New York Times, Mr. Schimel said that he did not consider the new rule a “gag” on employees because they could talk about climate change when they were away from the office.

The other supporter, , the state treasurer, said in an interview that the new rule was designed to prevent employees from involving themselves in issues that go beyond what he sees as the agency’s mission.

Mr. Adamczyk, also a Republican, said that employees could briefly talk about climate change “by the water cooler,” in the same manner they might discuss a Badgers basketball game. Anything beyond that, he said, would be inappropriate.

“Why would the staff have to talk about it?” Mr. Adamczyk said. “I don’t think that’s our role there. It has nothing to do with our agency.”

But the sole opponent of the rule, Doug La Follette, the secretary of state and a Democrat, disagreed. Mr. La Follette, a scientist, said in an interview that not only is the impact of climate change on forests well documented, the agency’s management of land requires general expertise in forestry and the environment. The Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, which employs two full-time foresters, also makes loans to municipalities in Wisconsin and provides grants to school libraries.

“The big important thing here is the attitude and the trend of public officials who, either out of ignorance or out of political expediency, deny the climate issue,” Mr. La Follette said.

Mr. La Follette said the ban was part of Mr. Adamczyk’s continuing efforts to remove Tia Nelson, the board’s executive secretary and the daughter of Gaylord Nelson, who founded . Mr. Adamczyk has said it was inappropriate for Ms. Nelson to serve on a global warming task force in 2007 and 2008, which she did at the request of the governor. Mr. Adamczyk has tried to fire Ms. Nelson but has so far been unsuccessful. Ms. Nelson declined to comment on Thursday.

Mr. Adamczyk, who took office in January, ran on a campaign promise to eliminate government waste, including his own position. He fired the two employees in the treasurer’s office and works alone out of a basement office in the Capitol building in Madison.

Though some Democrats saw the rule as the work of Gov. Scott Walker, Mr. Adamczyk said that the governor “was not involved with this at all.” Laurel Patrick, a spokeswoman for the Republican governor, said in an email that “Generally, Governor Walker does not think it is unreasonable to enact policies requiring board staff to focus on board-related activities.”

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