At a meeting of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands Tuesday, Tia Nelson said she has received an attractive job offer and on Friday would leave the agency, where one of its members has been waging a running bureaucratic battle to change how the board is run and get Nelson fired.
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The daughter of legendary Wisconsin politician Gaylord Nelson has left her state job to join a Madison-based foundation.
Newly-elected state Treasurer Matt Adamczyk in particular had been critical of Nelson’s work on climate change issues, and pushed for her removal and a resolution that barred Board staff from discussing global warming.
Adamczyk and Attorney General Brad Schimel, both Republicans came in support of the decision, whereas Democratic Secretary of State Doug La Follette was against that decision. According to her, on August 11, she’ll begin an “exciting opportunity”. In these cases, Schimel casted the deciding vote and Adamczyk continued to be in opposition to permit any conversation regarding climate change.
“This is really about Tia Nelson”, Adamczyk said, casting a “no” vote. In March, he also proposed firing Nelson, who served as the co-chair of a state global warming task forced called in 2007 by then Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat.
Nelson said she leaves her post with “mixed emotions”, adding that she had wanted to wait to announce her resignation until after the state budget was signed into law, with a commitment to expand the board’s investment authority.
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Nelson has led the agency, which manages school trust lands and a $1 billion trust fund for the state of Wisconsin.
