By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Legislators and stakeholders in the agricultural community seem optimistic they can persuade the governor to rescind her order minimizing the role of the agriculture commission.

On Oct. 8 Gov. Jennifer Granholm issued an executive order (EO) combining the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Department of Natural Resources (DNR). At the same time she took away much of the power of the Natural Resources Commission and Agriculture Commission.

These commissions employ the directors of their respective departments and are designed to be bipartisan.

Liz Boyd, press secretary for the governor, stated last month that Granholm changed the commissions’ roles because she wanted the directors of the departments in question to be accountable to the governor, since the public holds the governor accountable for what the directors do and assumes that the gover...