Juneau, Alaska (KINY) – Change is in the air as the Alaska Region welcomes a new Acting Regional Forester, Janelle Crocker.
She follows on the heels of Dave Schmid who retired in September after serving more than 40 years in the agency, five of which were as the Regional Forester in Alaska.
Crocker will lead the region in managing nearly 22 million acres of national forests in Alaska until the position is filled permanently.
In her permanent position, Crocker serves as the Deputy Regional Forester for the Eastern Region based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Before joining the agency and serving her now 7 years, she has held a range of leadership positions with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Bureau of Land Management, City of Sacramento, and Environmental Systems Research Institute.
Alaska is not new to Crocker who served as the regional Resource Information Program manager from 2016-2019.
“Being back in Alaska is energizing and I’m ready to immerse myself back into the lifestyle,” said Crocker. “I look forward to meeting and working with Tribes, partners, and Alaska Region employees.”
She will be in the acting position until it is filled permanently and joins Deputy Regional Forester Chad VanOrmer as both lead the region’s nearly 700 employees in two forests – the Chugach and the Tongass.
Crocker graduated from Humboldt State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and earned Master of Science in Geographic Information Systems and Master of Business Administration degrees from the University of Redlands, California.
