Feige completes DNR leadership team

Petroleum News

The Department of Natural Resources said Jan. 15 that Commissioner Corri Feige has completed DNR’s leadership team with the promotion of Brent Goodrum to deputy commissioner, and the hiring of Ricky Gease as new director of state parks.

Goodrum has been director of the Division of Mining, Land and Water since 2011, where his team of more than 200 is responsible for managing the natural resources critical to the economic, cultural and social life of the state, including the 105 million acres of land promised to Alaska at statehood.

In addition to overseeing his previous division, Goodrum will now have management responsibility for divisions responsible for forestry, state parks, agricultural and department support services.

The department said his “top priorities will include helping DNR meet its mission of protecting resources through rigorous permitting, while operating faster and more efficiently to help build a stronger economy for Alaskans.”

Goodrum came to DNR following his retirement from the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served as an infantry officer. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis and holds a master’s degree in operations research from the Naval Postgraduate School.

Gease has worked in Alaska as a U.S. National Park Service ranger, and as executive director of the Kenai Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Kenai River Sportfishing Association.

He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology from Stanford University and a Foraker Certificate in Non-Profit Management from the University of Alaska Anchorage. Gease also served on the Federal Subsistence Board’s Southcentral Alaska Regional Advisory Council and was named a Salmon Fellow by the Alaska Humanities Forum in 2017.

DNR said these appointments fill out the ranks of Feige’s leadership team, which includes oil and gas specialist Sara Longan as deputy commissioner and resources attorney Peter Caltagirone as special assistant.

Former state parks Director Ethan Tyler will remain with DNR, bringing his commercial and policy experience to the Division of Oil and Gas.

Marty Parsons, long-time deputy director of Mining, Land and Water, has been promoted to director of the division. Laura Ogan, an administrative assistant in the Division of Oil and Gas, has transferred to a similar position in the commissioner’s office.

- Petroleum News