Governor Pat Quinn's proposed budget cuts to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources are so severe, the agency's chief of staff says it's on the brink of closing.Jay Curtis says in the past decade the department's budget shrunk from $106 million dollars to 45 million dollars. And Curtis says in that ten years the agency has lost over half its employees. Curtis says it's hard to operate an agency when that happens. He says DNR is one of the broadest in scope of all agencies in the state. It affects people's lives everywhere in the state. Curtis says IDNR owns property and has a presence in every county in the state.
Quinn wants to reduce DNR's budget this year by 13 point 5 percent. The agency will stop producing its monthly magazine, "Outdoor Illinois." But Director Marc Miller has promised that parks will not be closed. At least one state lawmaker is suggesting fees to enter state parks as another way to supplement the department's shrinking budget.
