Balash resigns from Department of Interior

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News

Joe Balash, assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, has resigned effective Aug. 30, Alaska Public Media reported Aug. 20. Secretary of Interior David Bernhardt announced the resignation by tweet Aug. 20, saying that Balash had announced that day he would be moving on from Interior. Bernhardt said he joined the president in thanking Balash for his service.

Balash was confirmed to the Interior position in 2017. In announcing his confirmation, Interior said the assistant secretary heads the department’s management of all federal lands and waters, and associated mineral and nonmineral resources, as well as appropriate regulation of surface coal mining, including both the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Prior to being named assistant secretary, Balash served as chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska.

“Joe Balash has been a dedicated public servant for over twenty years,” Sullivan said in an Aug. 21 statement. “During his tenure at the Department of the Interior, he worked tirelessly to promote the goal of American energy dominance, and understood that Alaska was key to that goal. In doing so, he has helped set Alaska up for success for years to come. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

“I greatly appreciate Joe’s hard work and dedication at the Department, where he has led the way on a number of issues that are critical to our state and nation,” U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said Aug. 21.

“From standing up the leasing program for the 1002 Area to the lifting of decades-old Public Lands Orders, Joe has worked tirelessly to advance responsible resource development and improvement land management,” Murkowski said. She said Alaska is in a better place because of his leadership, thanked him for his public service and wished him the best in future endeavors. Murkowski said she is “confident that even without him, the strong partnership we have formed with the Department in this administration will continue.”

Prior to his positions in Washington, D.C., Balash, who is from North Pole, served as deputy commissioner and then commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, and before that was staff in the Alaska Legislature.

He told Alaska Public Media that he was resigning to pursue another opportunity, which he would describe at a later date.

- Petroleum News