THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 14, 1996 TAG: 9606140601
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 70 lines
A retired Army major was named deputy director of the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries Thursday, a year after the second-in-command post was created.
Michael G. Buhl, 41, of Fayetteville will be paid $57,000 annually.
He holds a bachelor's degree in Wildlife Management with a concentration in fisheries management from Tennessee Technological University.
He received a master's degree in Public Administration from Webster University in St. Louis and attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. He was an infantry officer and paratrooper and served in Germany, Korea, Panama, Peru, Grenada and the West Indies.
``He went into the military right out of college,'' state fisheries division spokeswoman Nancy Fish said. ``He has the knowledge of biological issues. But his real expertise is in personnel management.''
State Fisheries Director Bruce Freeman agreed. ``He has a lot of practical experience in the management of programs and more than 10 years in overseeing organizations larger than our division,'' Freeman said.
``I'll turn over the day-to-day personnel issues, planning functions and budgeting initially. Right now, we want to make sure our organization is operating efficiently internally.''
Buhl will supervise 200 employees in the state Division of Marine Fisheries, help manage the division's annual budget of more than $8 million, review proposed rule changes, supervise all section chiefs, administer salaries and grievances and act as the director when Freeman is absent.
Eight candidates from throughout the East Coast interviewed for the new deputy director position. In March, Freeman offered the post to his fisheries management section chief, Jess Hawkins - along with a $23,729 raise. State personnel officials in Raleigh, however, quickly nixed that salary increase, saying Freeman had not got their permission to hire Hawkins as deputy director - much less give him a big raise. Hawkins withdrew from consideration for the position. He is still the Division of Marine Fisheries' chief of fisheries management.
Some fishermen throughout thestate expressed dismay that Freeman had taken so long to fill the deputy director position. Freeman said he's been trying, ``but it took a long amount of time to get all the clearance and papers signed for the position in Raleigh.''
State Marine Fisheries Commission member Joey Daniels, a commercial fish house owner from Wanchese, said he did not know anything about Buhl - but he's glad someone finally filled the deputy director's post. ``He's not a biologist. And that was something the governor promised us. So I guess that's good,'' Daniels said from his Outer Banks office. ``What I thought we needed for the division was a person who knew how to run a business. Now we'll find out whether a military guy can do that.''
Sandy Semans, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina Fisheries Association which represents more than 1,000 commercial watermen throughout the state, agreed. ``We're glad that spot's finally been filled. And we hope it takes some of the stress off the division,'' she said. ``I thought it was good (Buhl) had combat training,'' she said, jokingly alluding to the battles fisheries regulators have faced.
Coastal Conservation Association Executive Director Richen Brame, whose organization includes 3,500 recreational anglers, said he's ``delighted that the state has fulfilled its year-old obligation. . . . We hope . . . Buhl will work quickly with fisheries director Bruce Freeman to overcome the division's apparent short-comings in processing paperwork, talking with the public and working with the General Assembly.
``And we hope it won't take the state nearly as long to hire a new fisheries enforcement head as it did to find a new deputy director.''
In January, Freeman fired the fisheries division's chief of law enforcement Fred Swain - who had worked for the state for 30 years.
The division spokeswoman said 13 people have applied for that law enforcement section chief job, and ``we hope to have interviews completed within two weeks.'' by CNB