Earlier this week, the grassroots political action fund, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (ICCI), released a statement chastising Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Director, Chuck Gipp, for requesting a status quo budget for fiscal year 2018. “We’re tired of DNR Director Chuck Gipp always marching in lockstep with Gov. Branstad,” said Cherie Mortice, retired teacher and ICCI Action member from Des Moines. “He knows that the DNR can’t operate with a status quo budget.” The group says that Gipp needs to “grow a backbone and demand more funding” to address Iowa’s growing environmental problems and $5 bilion water quality crisis. For the second year, the Iowa DNR has requested a budget of $75.4 million in a year that is reported to see an estimated $132 million decrease in revenue.
