The Alaska Forest Association has named a new executive director.
Tessa Axelson will help lead the Ketchikan-based timber industry group, which has long-advocated for logging jobs and less federal red tape preventing timber sales in the Tongass National Forest.
Axelson will be taking over the role from Owen Graham, who led the organization for close to 20 years. Graham will still be involved in some of the nonprofit’s initiatives.
Bert Burkhart, the group’s board president, said Axelson is a good fit because of her history communicating with the public. She previously worked at the Denali Commission, an independent federal agency that assists with infrastructure projects in rural Alaska.
Axelson begins work at the Alaska Forest Association in February.
