Nolan Heath

Originally from a small farming community in Wyoming, Nolan Heath came to Alaska in 1979 when he drove a woman up after his first semester at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He worked in Alaska in the summers and returned to Utah every year to complete his bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering. After graduation, he worked at Elmendorf Air Force Base and later for ENSTAR Natural Gas Company in Anchorage, Alaska. From 1990 to 1994, he worked as an engineer and as the Pipeline Officer/Right of Way Officer for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the Joint Pipeline Office, which was a coordinated effort by federal and state agencies to provide oversight of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS). In 1994, Nolan became the Deputy State Director for Minerals at BLM and then in 1995 he became the Deputy State Director when the minerals and resources programs were combined. In his capacity as Deputy State Director, he oversaw BLM staff working on the Iditarod National Historic Trail, including the trail administrator and the manager of the Anchorage Field Office, and sought BLM funding and support for trail projects. At the time, the priority was to get lands conveyed from the state and Native corporations and to protect the trail's right of way. Around 2004, he returned to the Pipeline Office to help with a project where Alyeska Pipeline Service Company was rebuilding pump stations and remained there for 15 years. After a year or so back with the Resources Division at BLM, Nolan retired in 2019.