On Dec. 20, 2006, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced the appointment of Ben Nageak, Barrow resident and former mayor of the North Slope Borough, as the Bureau of Land Management representative in Barrow, Alaska.

 

"The establishment of this position fulfills a commitment we made to the people of the North Slope to have a fulltime presence in Barrow," said Secretary Kempthorne. The Secretary visited the North Slope in August.

 

Nageak, an Inupiat Eskimo, serves as a Natural Resource Program Coordinator for the BLM’s Arctic Field Office.  As the BLM’s point of contact in Barrow, he is the BLM liaison with local government officials, special interest groups, Alaska Native organizations on the North Slope, state government and other federal agencies.

 

Nageak’s primary responsibility is to help the BLM better understand the unique cultural, economic and natural resource issues of Alaska’s North Slope and to coordinate with all interested constituents.

 

The Barrow Field Station is located at 1265 Agvik Street in Barrow, Alaska. The office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.