After having the governor's ear for the last eight years, Maryland's leading environmental groups say they are being shunned by Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s transition team and fear they will be marginalized in the new administration.
Representatives from the groups say the Republican's early actions appear to run counter to campaign pledges he made to protect the state's natural resources.
A top early concern is Ehrlich's decision to exclude representatives of mainstream advocacy organizations from a transition committee reviewing environmental issues.
"When I look at the group," said Theresa Pierno, Maryland executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, "what I see completely missing is anyone from environmental policy advocacy. ... This environmental transition team doesn't really have any broad expertise from any of the statewide environmental organizations."
Paul E. Schurick, an Ehrlich spokesman, said it isn't an accident that the leaders of statewide environmental groups - such as the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, Audubon Society, Sierra Club and 1000 Friends of Maryland - are being left out of those discussions.
"Several of those organizations worked very hard to defeat Ehrlich, and they are right, we have not sought their opinion," Schurick said. "The tables have turned in some ways - some so-called advocacy groups are upset they are being left out, but most business advocacy groups have complained they have been shut out the last eight years."
The state's environmental groups worked closely with Gov. Parris N. Glendening during the past eight years to protect tens of thousands of acres, set stricter pollution standards and implement the state's landmark Smart Growth policies, which are designed to reduce sprawl.
These groups also supported Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's bid for governor. The Maryland League of Conservation Voters broadcast cable television and radio advertisements attacking Ehrlich's environmental record.
Now, business interests that backed Ehrlich during the campaign say it's their turn to work closely with a Maryland governor.
"Under Glendening, only environmental groups had his ear," said Michael Powell, an Annapolis lobbyist who represents the chemical industry and manufacturers and serves as an informal adviser to Ehrlich on environmental issues. "Now, I think business will have more access."
Environmental leaders say they have no doubts that businesses will have more influence with the Republican administration. But they believe they, too, should have a say in environmental policy.
"We are disappointed there are not more environmental leaders and people from the Smart Growth community on the transition," said Dru Schmidt-Perkins, executive director of 1000 Friends of Maryland.
Dr. Jennie C. Hunter-Cevera, president of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, leads the transition team's environment committee. The committee has been told to evaluate the workings and policies of the departments of Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment, and it will prepare a report on environmental issues for Ehrlich.
Other members of the group include former Anne Arundel County Executive Robert A. Pascal; James Piper Bond, president of the Living Classrooms Foundation; Karen Oertel, owner of Harris Crab House and W.H. Harris Seafood Inc.; and Del. George C. Edwards, a Garrett County Republican.
The panel also includes academics and people affiliated with manufacturing, small business and forestry interests.
On Thursday, the committee visited the Department of Natural Resources.
"I was struck by the fact there was not someone there representing environmental or conservation interests," said DNR Secretary J. Charles Fox, who is leaving his post to take a job at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Schurick said the transition team also is consulting with others in the environmental community, but on an informal basis.
Through a spokeswoman, Hunter-Cevera refused to comment, saying she is "not allowed to talk to the press." Several other members of the group - noting orders from Ehrlich's transition office - also declined to comment.
This secrecy worries environmental advocates. "I just never heard of these things not being open to the public or not knowing who is on them and what is being decided," said Sue Brown, executive director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters.
Brown and her colleagues also are troubled by suggestions from Ehrlich that he is considering merging the departments of Natural Resources and the Environment. The two used to be one agency, but the Department of the Environment was created as its own entity in 1987 under Gov. William Donald Schaefer.
Schurick said the proposal is "one of a dozen" things Ehrlich is thinking about doing to save money and increase efficiency.
Brown said that such a move would send "a signal that the environment is not important."
Perkins said such a merger would save little money - and might cause the state to lose some federal funds. Combined, the two departments receive about 1.5 percent of the state's $21.6 billion budget, Fox said.
Del. Kenneth D. Schisler, an Eastern Shore Republican on Ehrlich's transition team, said it is inappropriate for groups to question the governor-elect's commitment to environmental policies before he makes any policy decisions. "I am confident the Ehrlich administration ... will work for sound environmental stewardship," Schisler said.
When Ehrlich met with Glendening after last month's election, he told the departing governor that he is committed to continuing some of the administration's Smart Growth initiatives.
And during the campaign, Ehrlich said he is devoted to protecting the environment. But he also vowed to pay more attention to the concerns of farmers, watermen and businesses - groups that felt they were ignored by Glendening because their interests sometimes clash with environmentalists'.
"Maryland is an anti-business state and it starts at the Department of the Environment," Schurick said. "We are going to restore balance."