4 people, 8,000 requests: What it's like being a public records coordinator at the Wisconsin DNR

This story was produced as part of Sunshine Week, a nonpartisan collaboration among groups in the journalism, civic, education, government and private sectors that shines a light on the importance of public records and open government. Sunshine Week runs through March 22, 2025.

Eight thousand requests. That’s the number of open records cases that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources processed in 2024, according to public records coordinator Philip Derge.

“It’s how the public holds us and the government accountable, or just to see what’s going on,” Derge said. “I think it’s very important.”

With a small public records team of just four, the DNR handles among the highest volume of records requests of any state agency, according to Derge.

Since 1984, the Wisconsin open records law has guaranteed the public the right to access state and local government records. The law exists to ensure a transparent government and informed public, vital to a functioning democratic process.

For more than 10 years, Derge has worked almost exclusively on open records requests for the DNR, with demand growing year after year.

Derge said the people requesting records are a healthy mix, ranging from journalists, attorneys, environmental consultants, property owners and more. Any time one of them requests a public record from the DNR, Derge or one of his fellow public records custodians are assigned to handle it.

But obtaining the requested documents is not always so simple.

“Sometimes when people come in, there’s a bigger perception that their records are immediately at our fingertips,” Derge said.

Often, that's not the case.

More: Wisconsin law entitles you access to government records. Here's how to get them.

Last year, more than 800 inquiries — or about 10% of overall requests — were considered “complex requests,” involving an extensive number of records and multiple programs across the DNR.

Derge said records requests at the DNR are categorized into one of four groups: customer service requests, simple requests, complex requests and Public Safety and Resource Protection Division requests.

The latter involves records about DNR's law enforcement arm and typically contains sensitive information relating to open investigations.

More: Public records make journalism possible. Here are 4 stories we couldn't do without them.

But the vast majority of requests fall within the customer service category, said Derge, with the most common requests involving fishing and hunting licenses and vehicle registrations.

Other common requests involve documents about a property’s environmental history or newsworthy topics like the levels of PFAS — commonly known as “forever chemicals — in Wisconsin waterways.

Recently, Derge said he's received a number of records requests concerning the DNR’s investigation into last November’s Enbridge Line 6 pipeline spill in Superior.

There's work to be done to improve the open records process, Derge said.

He said the DNR is working to digitize files, which would make processing open records requests more efficient. Derge hopes the agency can find a way to automate this process in the future, possibly through the use of artificial intelligence, but said that is still a long way out.

For now, he encourages people to continue using records requests to learn more about the state of Wisconsin’s 1.6 million acres of public lands.

“Ultimately, it's why public records laws exist,” Derge said. “It gives the public a better idea of what’s going on.”

Tips from the DNR for an effective open records request

• Make requests as specific as possible: Requests should include a specific person or title as well as keywords to avoid open records custodians having to pull more records than needed, Derge said.

• Start off small and ask for subsequent requests from there: There’s no limit on the number of open requests a person can have, Derge said. Rather than ask for everything right away, breaking up requests into smaller asks can help the public records team provide answers quickly and provide other directions for future requests.

• If you’re unsure, send requests to both the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: The delineation between the two environmental agencies can get confusing, according to Derge. He recommends sending a request to both agencies if you’re not sure. “Even if it’s more of an EPA question, we're still looking and trying to get people what they need from our end,” Derge said.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What it's like being a public records coordinator at the Wisconsin DNR