Sarah Strommen stands proudly in a small fishing boat, a grin on her face, holding the biggest walleye of the day in her outstretched hands.
The folksy photograph, taken under an overcast sky at last year's governor's fishing opener, belies Strommen's heavyweight resume, which includes a master's degree from Duke, a Fulbright scholarship, and leadership roles with a handful of the state's most prominent conservation groups.
But it also helps explain why Gov. Tim Walz chose the lifelong angler as his commissioner for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). It's a hot-seat job that requires a deep understanding of Minnesota's passions, and she arrives at a time of testing for the state _ a changing climate that could force new restrictions on walleye fishing and the looming prospect of copper mining at the doorstep of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
People who have worked with Strommen say she can handle the pressure.
"She's so approachable," said John LeTourneau, who served with Strommen for five years on the City Council in Ramsey, a north metro suburb.
As Ramsey's two-term mayor, LeTourneau said, Strommen was masterful at getting feedback from all sides of the battles that come before a City Council _ such as the time a gun range wanted to open next door to a day-care center. Thousands of emails poured in from all over the country, LeTourneau said, but Strommen made sure everyone felt they were heard and got the two businesses talking to each other.
"It turned out that having a day care nearby is a great supporting business _ for parents who want to go in and use the shooting range," LeTourneau said.
Strommen, 46, is the first woman to be appointed Minnesota's DNR commissioner. She had been assistant commissioner for several years under former head Tom Landwehr, overseeing the department's parks and trails division.
She's fully aware of the tempests that can blow up over deer hunting or a timber harvest, and her plan is to involve stakeholders and the public early in decisions, so they can be confident they will be heard. To do that, she said, she and her staff will have to meet people under their terms and in their towns, and not necessarily rely on everyone knowing how to step up to a microphone at a public hearing.
Last month, for example, Strommen was in Brainerd to talk to a group of about 20 anglers, boaters, deer hunters, members of lake associations and nonprofits. They planned to discuss Walz's proposal for higher boat registration fees and a surcharge to fund the war against invasive carp and damaging zebra mussels. The surcharge would also bring back state cost-sharing grants, eliminated years ago during budget cuts, which allow cities and lake associations to target their own areas for invasives and split the cost with the DNR.
The conversation turned to the fact that boats are getting bigger and bigger, overwhelming launch sites and causing long wait times at ramps. If the DNR increases inspections to make sure boats are being properly washed down, it must also make sure people have enough space _ whether it's increasing parking or adding lanes where boats can move off to the side to be hosed down, some argued.
In her first two months on the job, Strommen has also visited Alexandria, Willmar, Rochester and Grand Rapids, among other cities, to lead these small talks about invasives and chronic wasting disease in the deer herd.
"I am a people person, but I am not an extrovert," she said. "I've gotten good at pretending to be one, but I think that's why I'm more of a listener and am more comfortable in conversation than talking at people."
