10/15/02

By MARK POWELL

Maryland Secretary of Natural Resources J. Charles Fox sent a memorandum to key staffers Oct. 1 informing them that “to avoid even the appearance of a conflict, effective immediately, the department will not accept gifts of travel, except from federal or other governmental organizations.”
The memorandum was written, Fox states in it, because, “some individuals have questioned the propriety of” accepting gifts of travel.
This summer, The Delmarva Farmer discovered and reported that a DNR employee traveled to a national conference on the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program with funding from Quail Unlimited. DNR, at the time, said the agency has a standard practice of accepting financial assistance in such matters from groups that “share common interests.”
Quail Unlimited leader James Farmer, a Charles County attorney, is active on the committee that advises DNR and the Maryland Department of Agriculture on CREP. CREP is a federal-state program which pays landowners to put in grasses and trees along waterways as a method of improving water quality and wildlife habitat.
Quail Unlimited’s Farmer has been at odds with others on the advisory committee as he pushes for larger buffers as beneficial to wildlife. Some agricultural groups have argued that the buffers were designed and promoted to the farming community as key for improving water quality as they absorb excess nutrients from runoff.
Because Quail Unlimited paid for a DNR official to attend a conference on CREP, The Delmarva Farmer editorialized Aug. 13 that there exists a conflict of interest for DNR on this program. “Is it not questionable, from an ethical standpoint, for the Department of Natural Resources to accept offers of financial support, for whatever reason, from special interest organizations with which it deals and upon which DNR rules and regulations may apply? We believe it is questionable.”
Fox’s memo, sent to assistant secretaries, DNR’s chief information officer, the assistant attorney general and unit directors, says state law generally prohibits the acceptance of gifts by state employees from individuals or entities who have interests that can be directly impacted by the individual.
It is okay for the department itself to accept gifts, according to state law.
“Though gifts of travel benefit the department, they may also benefit specific individuals. For example, while attendance at a national conference may reflect a departmental priority, a gift of travel to attend the conference may benefit a single individual who is the logical staff person to represent the department. This can create an awkward perception of a conflict of interest.”
The memo concludes: “It is essential that we maintain the public’s trust in the work we do on their behalf.”