Alaska Governor Sarah Palin

EXECUTIVE BIOGRAPHY: CHAIRMAN
Gov. Sarah Palin, State of Alaska
Governor Sarah Palin made history on Dec. 4, 2006 when she took o?ce. As the 11th gover-
nor of Alaska, she is the ?rst woman to hold the o?ce.
During her ?rst legislative session, Governor Palin’s administration passed two major pieces of
legislation – an overhaul of the state’s ethics laws and a competitive process to construct a gas
pipeline.
Since taking o?ce, her top priorities have been education, workforce development, public
safety, resource development and infrastructure.
Under her leadership, Alaska invested $1 bil ion in the state’s education fund and imple-
mented the Senior Bene?ts Program that provides support for low-income older Alaskans.
She created Alaska’s Petroleum Systems Integrity O?ce to provide oversight and maintenance
of oil and gas equipment, facilities and infrastructure, and the Climate Change Subcabinet to
prepare a climate change strategy for Alaska.
Governor Palin is chair of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, a multi-state
government agency that promotes the conservation and e?cient recovery of domestic oil and
natural gas resources while protecting health, safety and the environment.
She also serves as vice chair of the National Governors Association (NGA) Natural Resources
Committee, which is charged with pursuing legislation to ensure state needs are considered as
federal policy is formulated in the areas of agriculture, energy, environmental protection and
natural resource management.
Prior to her election as governor, Palin served for two terms on the Wasil a City Council and
two terms as the mayor/manager of Wasil a. During her tenure, she reduced property tax levels
while increasing services and made Wasil a a business friendly environment drawing in new
industry.
She has served as chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which regulates
Alaska’s most valuable non-renewable resources: oil and gas. She was elected by her peers to
serve as president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors. In this role, she worked with local,
state and federal o?cials to promote solutions to the needs of Alaska’s communities.
Before beginning a career in public service, Governor Palin worked in the media and utility
industries.
Sarah Heath Palin arrived in Alaska with her family in 1964, when her parents came to teach
school in Skagway. She received a bachelor of science degree in communications-journalism
from the University of Idaho in 1987.
She is married to Todd Palin, a lifelong Alaskan, a production operator on the North Slope
and a four-time champion of the Iron Dog, the world’s longest snowmachine race. Todd and
Sarah commercial ?sh in Bristol Bay with their children – Track, Bristol, Wil ow and Piper.
Track enlisted in the U.S. Army on Sept. 11, 2007.
She was active in her family’s pursuits – including serving as a sports team mom and school
volunteer. She also runs marathons. Palin is a lifetime member of the NRA and enjoys hunt-
ing, ?shing, Alaska history, and al that Alaska’s great outdoors has to o?er.

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EXECUTIVE BIOGRAPHY: VICE CHAIRMAN
Commissioner Dan Seamount, Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission
Dan Seamount Jr., has been one of three commissioners for the Alaska Oil & Gas
Conservation Commission for over 6 years (2/14/00 to Present). The mission of
the Commission is to protect the public interest in exploration and development
of oil and gas resources throughout Alaska. The main emphasis is regulation of
underground drilling and reservoir development operations to ensure conservation
of resources, protection of drinking water, and protection of correlative rights. The
Commission sta? consists of geologists, petroleum engineers, reservoir engineers,
IT personnel, and support sta?.
While commissioner Seamount has been an associate and o?cial representative of
three consecutive Alaska Governors to the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Com-
mission (IOGCC) and was chairman of the North American Coastal Alliance and
Public Lands Committees of the IOGCC. He also was Vive-Chair of DOE’s Ultra-
deep Water Advisory Committee.
For 27 years prior to that Seamount worked in exploration and development geol-
ogy at di?erent times for Chevron, Marathon, and Unocal in California, the Rocky
Mountains, the Mid-continent, and Alaska.
He has an M.S. in Geology from the University of CA, Riverside with an emphasis
on geothermal development and exploration and is a licensed professional geologist
in Texas and Alaska.
COLLECTIVELY REPRESENTING THE STATES

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E X E C U T I V E B I O G R A P H Y: S E CO N D V I C E C H A I R M A N
Lynn Helms, North Dakota Industrial Commission
Lynn Helms has served as director of the North Dakota Industrial Commission Oil
and Gas Division since July 1998 and director of the Department of Mineral Resources
since July 2005.
He earned his bachelor of science degree in engineering from the South Dakota School
of Mines and Technology in 1978, but his oil ? eld career began as a roughneck in 1976
working summers and school holidays. After graduation Helms worked for two years as
a production engineer for Texaco in all of the producing areas of Montana.
In 1980, Helms joined Amerada Hess in Williston, N.D. While in Williston he worked
as a production engineer, reservoir engineer and asset team leader on projects in Abu
Dhabi, Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas
and Wyoming.
CO L L E C T I V E LY R E P R E S E N T I N G T H E S TAT E S

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Document Outline

• 2007 Executive Bio Gov Palin.pdf
• Dan Seamount Bio indd.pdf
• 2007 Executive Bio Lynn REVISED.pdf

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