Ogan gets state job

MAT-SU - Former state senator Scott Ogan has accepted a position as a Natural Resource Manager II for the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Mining Lands and Water.

Becky Hultberg, spokesman for Gov. Frank Murkowski's administration, on Monday said the job was a classified position, not an appointment.

Ogan, on Monday, referred questions on the matter to his future employer. Contacts at Mining Lands and Water couldn't be reached by press time.

A Natural Resource Manager II is given "substantial responsibility," according to the state jobs Web site. An NRM II has greater managerial responsibility than an NRM I, which is a position that requires only a master's degree or two years' experience. The work of an NRM II is of a broader focus, and is more politically sensitive, than the work of the lower-level position, which receives a monthly salary of $3,878 - $46,536 per year.

As an NRM II, Ogan may be required to implement statewide programs as an expert in a subject area, conduct hearings, testify before the Legislature on technical issues, draft policies, train and supervise staff, and perform audits, among other duties, the state Web site says.

Minimum qualifications for the NRM II position are a doctorate in a natural resources field; a master's degree and two years' experience in journey-level, resource-related work; or four years of such experience.

Ogan has no such professional or educational background, according to information noted in his biographical sketch from an Alaska Legislature Web site. The Web site notes that Ogan's trade is making cabinets, and the biographical sketch lists that he has a general-equivalency diploma (GED) from a Florida high school, telephone-repairman school and training in welding at UAA.

But a close friend, Rep. Vic Kohring, R-District 14, vouched that Ogan was a "quick study," "knowledgeable" and has a decade of experience with natural-resource issues. He also said he'd observed Ogan to be an excellent manager of his senatorial office.

"He has a Ph. D. It's called the school of hard knocks," Kohring said.

As a state senator, Ogan sat on the Finance Subcommittee of Environmental Conservation, chaired the Committee on Resources, and was a member of the Legislative Council on Oil and Gas. Ogan also consulted with Evergreen Resources, Alaska; this was the controversial relationship that prompted last year's "Ogan is So Gone" recall effort.

In August, Ogan stepped down from his state senatorial seat one day after an Anchorage judge denied a request to halt the recall process.

A participant in the recall effort, John Vinduskas, said he wished Ogan the best of luck.

"I'm glad that he stepped down as his position as senator, and whatever he does now is his life."

Ogan would not comment for this article, but he's had his eye on the industry for a while.

"There's nothing that excites me and turns my crank more than making wealth from resources," Ogan told the Frontiersman in October 2003.

"When I get out of this business, it's what I'm going to do."

Kate Golden can be reached at 352-2284 or kate.golden@frontiersman.com.