Kentucky’s Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources has come under scrutiny in the past few weeks. Last week a legislative committee has ordered a review of the agency while another committee delayed a vote on a contract for the new wildlife commissioner, Jon Gasset. This weekend the Kentucky Cabinet for Public Protection said it is investigating the agency.
Agency spokesman Dick Brown confirmed an investigation into the K-D-F-W is underway. Brown declined to disclose the focus of the probe. The Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is attached to the Tourism Cabinet, which doesn't have its own Office of Inspector General. That's why investigators from the Cabinet for Public Protection are handling the probe. Others also are looking into the agency, including the Legislature's Program Review and Investigations Committee that's in the midst of a yearlong review. John Steffen, head of the Executive Branch Ethics Commission, says he "could neither confirm nor deny" that his agency is also investigating.