DNR loses two voices for the environment amid marsh debate

Stacy Shelton in the ajc reports that two pro-environmental voices on the Georgia Board of Natural Resources will lose their seats Jan. 1, victims of congressional redistricting. Gov. Sonny Perdue's office this week told Ralph Callaway of Callaway Gardens and Sara Clark of Alpharetta they are losing their seats. The change means environmental groups are losing two of their most consistent allies on the board that sets environmental policy for the state.

According to the article:

Clark said she suspects her vocal position on marshland development may have influenced Perdue's decision to end her appointment, adding, "but I don't know."

"I always felt like I walked the tightrope between the two sides of the issues, but not on the marsh," Clark said Friday. "If we lose it, it will be really hard to mediate it. [The marsh is] a wonderful unique future on the coast and that was a passion of mine."

Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said Friday that the governor's decision to remove Clark "didn't have anything to do with dissatisfaction or anything like that. . . . The decision was strictly based on the fact there were two people in the same district and we had to make a decision. It would not have come up otherwise."