DuPage forest preserve chief announces retirement
By Susan Frick Carlman scarlman@stmedianetwork.com May 21, 2012 4:12PM
Brent Manning has announced his retirement as director of the DuPage County Forest Preserve District. | Submitted
Updated: July 2, 2012 8:40AM
Brent Manning thinks the time has come.
The executive director of the DuPage County Forest Preserve District has announced he will retire June 15, after nearly nine years in the agency’s top administrative post.
“It is something that a person aspires to do during their lifetime,” the 59-year-old Somonauk resident said. “I don’t know how long I’ll stay retired. My wife may kick me out of the house.”
The couple will likely stay in the area, though the 2½-hour drive to see their grandchildren in Rochester could soon grow old.
“I do think from time to time that it would be nice to be a little bit closer to them,” said Manning, who earns $165,000 annually.
He leaves a string of what he said are satisfying achievements by the district since he came to the helm in 2003, though he declines to bask in the glory of its successes.
“I give full credit for all the things that have been done to the commissioners and the staff,” he said, noting in particular that the district has great financial stability. “The fact is to be able to do things that we do, we have to have the money.”
An immediate replacement for Manning is not expected.
District President D. “Dewey” Pierotti Jr. said he’ll choose one of the two second-tier directors, Bob Vick or Mike Palazzetti, to fill in while a permanent replacement for Manning is sought.
Pierotti, who will need the board’s approval of his temporary appointee, said Manning’s decision to step down came as a surprise.
“This was really a shock, because for the last eight or nine years, Brent and I have been working closely together,” Pierotti said. “He gave a lot of input and insight, and his views were really very helpful.”
Before coming to the district, Manning filled a couple of other high-level jobs, including head of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Manning led the state agency until February 2003, when he headed west to become director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. He held that post for six months before returning to the Midwest to take the top administrative job at the DuPage Forest District.
