Walker names commissioners, leg director

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker has named two commissioners and his legislative director.

Larry Hartig will be retained as commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources, Heidi Drygas has been named commissioner of the Department of Labor and Darwin Peterson has been named legislative director.

Hartig has been DEC commissioner since 2007 and has also served as a trustee on the board of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. since 2009. Prior to joining the state, Hartig spent more than 20 years as a private practice attorney, working primarily on environmental, natural resource and commercial matters.

Drygas has a long history working on issues involving employment law and labor relations and most recently spent nearly 10 years as general counsel for the Alaska District Council of Laborers. Born in Fairbanks, she has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and a juris doctor from the Willamette University College of Law.

Peterson has worked in the Alaska Legislature for nearly 20 years, most recently as chief of staff for Sen. Bert Stedman. He spent most of his legislative career working in the Senate Finance Committee and served as deputy legislative director for Gov. Frank Murkowski.

- Petroleum News