Rutherford turns down DNR post

Kay Cashman

Marty Rutherford, deputy commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources, sent an email to DNR employees Dec. 13 saying that she had been offered the position of DNR commissioner by Gov. Frank Murkowski on the previous Friday, December 7. Rutherford said she turned down the offer because she is leaving public service. (See related news item on this page.)

“For the past eleven years it has been my privilege to work at the Department of Natural Resources with all of you. … I was greatly honored when Gov. Murkowski offered me the DNR commissioner position. However, for various reasons I have decided it is time for me to leave public service. I will resign around the middle of January,” Rutherford said in the email.

“During the past 30 days the senior management team and I have been working with Gov. Murkowski’s transition team, both the small department review team and the larger policy group. These teams, led by Harry Noah and including John Shively, have been collaborative, thorough and very non intrusive. And, to your credit, they have determined that DNR is an effective and well run organization,” she continued.

Rutherford said the transition from the Knowles to the Murkowski administration has “proceeded very smoothly.”

She also said Murkowski’s new Cabinet appointments are “outstanding individuals” and that she was “very impressed with the pragmatic approach embodied in the appointments and decisions to date.”

Editor’s note: See Oil Patch Insider for update on Marty Rutherford.