News Photo by Kayla Wikaryasz On Wednesday, Anna Konieczny is seen fishing near LaMarre Park. Community members took advantage of the warm temperature and sunshine to try and catch a few.

ALPENA — State Representative Cam Cavitt, R-Cheboygan, says he is not “anti-fishery,” following criticisms of his vote to approve a $53.3 million cut to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which includes a $5.3 million cut to the fisheries division.

The proposed cuts are outlined in the Michigan House Bill 4706 for the House of Representative’s version of the FY 2025-2026 budget. In FY 2024-2025, the DNR’s budget was $534 million, whereas the Michigan House of Representatives’ version of the FY 2025-2026 DNR budget is $481 million.

Cavitt told The News that representatives do not vote separately on items in a budget. When the state gives departments, like the DNR, a budget, they can move money around to better fit their needs. For example, if the DNR wishes to fund more fisheries work, they can take money from another area, though with some “strings” attached, according to Cavitt.

He noted “pet projects” that the DNR is funding that could be allocated to other divisions in need.

“If fisheries are so bad and it’s collapsing, for God’s sake, spend the money on that,” Cavitt said. “Don’t go buy more property.”

Cavitt said that he voted yes on the budget proposal because he doesn’t approve of the DNR’s management practices.

“This is a wake up call for them,” Cavitt said. “They’ve ran unaccountable for the last two years. They’ve had no oversight.”

Cavitt noted issues he has with DNR management such as their intention to remove dams across the state, which Governor Gretchen Whitmer allocated $15 million for in her proposed budget.

“The DNR doesn’t want to manage them anymore,” Cavitt said. “But what they want to do is they want to change management focus from recreational fishing, like pan fishing and bass fishing … all the elitists in the DNR want to manage these bodies of water for trout and salmon so their fly fishing buddies can fish.”

Cavitt said that the DNR claims that taking out the dams and draining the lakes will allow more fish to “get around.”

According to Cavitt, the DNR has also threatened to close state parks due to budget concerns.

“What a joke,” Cavitt said. “You tell me that’s the first thing that you want to cut is things that people use? No, there’s a lot of programs that you don’t know about, that the DNR could trim.”

Cavitt said he is also concerned that the DNR wants to get rid of commercial fishing in the Great Lakes.

“They want it gone. There’s only three licensed commercial fishermen on the Great Lakes. That’s where we get all of our fish,” Cavitt said. “Without those, we would not have any food in our restaurants. We’d have to buy it from the Canadians.”

Cavitt said that the budgeting process is a negotiation and often “shifts back to the middle.”

“When you come out with the budget, everybody always thinks the sky is falling,” Cavitt added. “This is where we start. We plant a flag, and then we try and find the compromise. And it shifts back to the middle … this happens every year.”

“Something major has to change to shake them up to get them to pay attention,” Cavitt added. “And that’s what this budget’s trying to accomplish.”

Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.