CONTACT: Andrew Savagian, DNR Office of Communications, 608-261-6422
MADISON – Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Secretary-designee Preston Cole today announced that Doug Haag, administrator of the Internal Services Division, will retire and Tim Cooke, current deputy division administrator, will assume the administrator role.
Cooke has served as deputy division administrator since 2016. He began his career in the Natural Heritage Conservation program in 2001, where he worked in several roles including financial specialist, budget manager, and Natural Heritage inventory data sharing coordinator. In 2009, Tim moved to the remediation and redevelopment program where he worked for five years managing budgets, grants, and work planning efforts. In 2014, Tim was hired as the department’s continuous improvement director, leading Lean process improvement efforts and serving as chair of the Operations Management Team.
Haag, who has served as administrator since 2016, joined the agency in 1986 spending much of his tenure in the agency’s real estate program. During his tenure, the DNR had many significant accomplishments including modernizing the Land Records System, transitioning the daily operations of the real estate program to the internet, creating an interactive mapping tool that allows the public to find and utilize public lands, publishing the Public Access Lands Atlas (PAL) and adapting to significant statutory changes that affect the department’s acquisition, disposition and management of its real estate portfolio.