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Gretchen Steele: Natalie Phelps Finnie, a southern Illinois girl, heads home

Natalie Phelps Finnie, who stepped down as Illinois DNR director on July 1, takes some shots during the Pere Marquette Family Fishing Fair in 2022. (Photo by Gretchen Steele)

On July 1, Natalie Phelps Finnie stepped down as director of DNR. After more than four years inside the agency – first as deputy director beginning in August 2021, then as director since January 2023 – the woman from Eldorado is closing one chapter and opening another.
Let me back up, because not everyone reading this knows the whole of it.

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