The Shumlin transition team has announced that Biomass Energy Resource Center Executive Director Chris Recchia will be the new administration’s Deputy Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources, and Chittenden County forester Michael Snyder will serve as the next Commissioner of Forest, Parks and Recreation.
According to the press release, Recchia served “as Deputy Commissioner and then Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation from 1997 to 2003. In addition, Recchia was director of the Ozone Transport Commission in Washington D.C., where he headed up 12 states and the District of Columbia on coordination of air pollution programs.”
And although it hasn’t been formally announced yet, news is already in open circulation at ANR that my former co-worker at the Vermont Natural Resources Council Water, Jon Groveman, will be the next lead counsel for the agency as well. I can say from first hand experience that there is no sharper mind for natural resources law and advocacy in Vermont than Jon, and the news that he’s being brought onboard pegs the competence, professionalism, and effectiveness meters for the new Markowitz-helmed ANR.
Jon Groveman will put some real teeth into the ANR. There is no one I admire more. He is both a powerhouse of creative thinking and an absolute bulldog when it comes to protecting the environment. ANR’s legal effectiveness will spring to life with Jon on the case.
Synder too. If this is the Mike Synder I am thinking it is I knew him from long ago. We used to work on a painting crew together. He’ll be great for the parks, much better than Gibbs.