Buzzy Peltola

Eugene R. "Buzzy" Peltola Jr. (February 7, 1966 – September 12, 2023) was an American public servant and naturalist who served as Alaska director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and manager of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge.[2][3][4][5] He was the husband of Congresswoman Mary Peltola. Peltola died as the result of a plane crash in September 2023.[6][7][8][9]

Buzzy Peltola
Regional Director for Alaska for the Bureau of Indian Affairs
In office
July 9, 2018 – July 29, 2022
Member of the Bethel City Council
In office
October 2011 – October 2013
Personal details
Born
Eugene R. Peltola Jr.

(1965-06-14)June 14, 1965
Bethel, Alaska, U.S.
DiedSeptember 13, 2023(2023-09-13) (aged 58)
Alaska, U.S.
Cause of deathAviation accident
CitizenshipUnited States
Orutsararmiut Native Council
SpouseMary Peltola
Children7[1]
EducationUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Biography

Peltola was born and raised in Bethel, Alaska. From an early age, he was an accomplished outdoorsman and hunter. He was a 1984 graduate of Bethel Regional High School, and later graduated from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a degree in wildlife management.

He was a tribal member of the Orutsararmiut Native Council.[2] Peltola's father, Gene Peltola Sr., was a prominent tribal leader.[10]

Career

In the 1980s, Peltola began working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and led subsistence management programs on all federal lands in Alaska. He also served as the lead staffperson for the U.S. Federal Subsistence Board.[11][12][13][14] He also worked for several years as a zone supervisor for Refuge Law Enforcement and later as the manager of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge,[4][15][16] assuming the role in 2008.[17][18] In 2009, Peltola was a delegate to the federal Whitefish Strategic Planning Group.[19]

Elected in October 2011 with 63% of the vote, Peltola served a term as a council member for the City of Bethel, and was unanimously elected by his council peers as vice-mayor of the city in 2012.[20][21] In addition to his public service, Peltola served on the corporate boards of the Bethel Native Corporation (a tribal-owned business) and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Bethel Solutions LLC and Bethel Services, Inc.[2]

In 2013, Peltola testified to the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in a hearing regarding the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.[22]

Peltola worked for the Fish and Wildlife Service until 2018, when he was appointed by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke as the new Regional Director for Alaska in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, overseeing services provided to 227 Alaska Native tribes.[2][4][23][9][24] In 2019, he was appointed to the Department of the Interior Senior Executive Service Performance Review Board by Secretary Ryan Zinke.[25][26]

Peltola retired from government service in the summer of 2022, as his wife Mary was running for the U.S. House of Representatives. In the same year, he became the co-founder and CEO of a new company called Alaska Carbon Solutions.[27][28]

Death
Peltola (center) holding the bible as his wife Mary (right) is sworn-in to the U.S. House of Representatives by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (left)

Buzzy Peltola died in a plane crash on September 12, 2023. He was 57.[7][29][30]

Various organizations and officials paid tribute after Peltola's death, including the Alaska Democratic Party, Alaska Federation of Natives, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Senator Lisa Murkowski, Senator Dan Sullivan, Governor Mike Dunleavy, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and various other members of the House of Representatives.[31][32][33][34][35][36][37]

In a statement released on Whitehouse.gov, President Joe Biden wrote, "Buzzy was a devoted public servant and in the tributes coming from all over the state today, he is being remembered as a friend to all."[38]

Peltola's memorial service was held at Bethel Regional High School on September 16 and attended by over 500 people.[18][39] Peltola was buried at Bethel Memorial Cemetery with Alaska bush aircraft conducting a ceremonial flyover.[18]

Electoral history
2011 Bethel City Council election[40]
Candidate Votes  %
Joseph A. Klejka 504 14.35
Mary Sattler 441 12.55
Richard D. Robb 436 12.41
Gene Peltola Jr. 434 12.35
Kent Harding 419 11.93
Mark Springer 310 8.82
Eric G. Whitney 283 8.06
Eric Middlebrook 277 7.88
Sharon D. Sigmon 273 7.77
Write-in 136 3.87

Note: The 2011 election was to fill four seats with 2-year terms and two seats with 1-year terms. Candidates were given the choice of which to fill on the basis of their vote-count, with the highest vote-getters being given first-preference to decide which length of a term they wanted to fill. Mary Sattler (Mary Peltola), Richard D. Robb, Gene Peltola Jr., and Mark Springer filled two-year terms while Joseph A. Klejka and Kent Harding filled one-year terms.

Works
  • McCaffery, B. J., and G. Peltola. 1986. "The status of the bristle-thighed curlew on the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska." Wader Study Group Bulletin 47:22–25.[41][42]

References
  1. Ruskin, Liz (2022-06-30). "Peltola's superpower: US House nominee disarms with unexpected niceness". Alaska Public Media. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  2. MacArthur, Anna Rose (July 10, 2018). "Gene Peltola Jr. Of Bethel Named To Alaska's Top BIA Position". KYUK. Archived from the original on September 1, 2022. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  3. "Alaska Region | Indian Affairs". www.bia.gov. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  4. "Secretary Zinke Fulfills Promise to Alaska: New Bureau of Indian Affairs Alaska Region Director Announced | Indian Affairs". www.bia.gov. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  5. "Remembering Buzzy Peltola: A Native leader and a trailblazer". KNBA. 2023-09-14. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  6. "Rep. Mary Peltola's husband dies after Alaska plane crash". Alaska Public Media. 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  7. "Rep. Mary Peltola's husband killed in plane crash in Alaska". Anchorage Daily News. 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
  8. "Husband of US Rep. Mary Peltola dies in an airplane crash in Alaska". AP News. 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  9. "Eugene Peltola, husband of Rep. Mary Peltola, died after a plane accident in Alaska". POLITICO. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  10. "Remembering Buzzy Peltola: A Native leader and a trailblazer". KNBA. 14 September 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  11. Denning, Angela (2013-07-27). "Peltola To Run Federal Subsistence Program". Alaska Public Media. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  12. Lambert, Valerie (2023-01-03). Native Agency: Indians in the Bureau of Indian Affairs. U of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-1-4529-6822-3.
  13. "Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska; Rural Determinations, Nonrural List". FWS.gov. 2015-11-04. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  14. "Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska; Rural Determinations, Nonrural List". unblock.federalregister.gov. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  15. American Birds. National Audubon Society. 1989.
  16. "Selawik River Inconnu Age Structure Evaluation and Spawning Population Abundance, Selawik National Wildlife Refuge.pdf". FWS.gov. 2019-11-01. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  17. "Hundreds gather in Bethel to pay their respects to the Peltola family". KYUK. 18 September 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  18. Martínezcuello, Francisco (September 19, 2023). "Hundreds of mourners gather in Bethel for funeral of Eugene 'Buzzy' Peltola Jr". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  19. "Whitefish Biology, Distribution, and Fisheries in the Yukon and Kuskokwim River Drainages in Alaska: a Synthesis of Available Information Alaska Fisheries Data Series Number 2012-4". FWS.gov. 2012-05-01. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  20. "Resolution 11-31 - Certifying the Results of the October 4, 2011 Regular City Election". Bethel Municipal Code. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  21. "10-15-2012 Special Meeting Minutes" (PDF). City of Bethel, Alaska. 2012.
  22. Subsistence: Hearing Before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, First Session, to Examine Wildlife Management Authority Within the State of Alaska Under the Alaska National Interest Lands Act and the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, September 19, 2013. U.S. Government Printing Office. 2013.
  23. Kelly, Elias (2023). My Side of the River: An Alaska Native Story. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-1-4962-3635-7.
  24. "'Shake it up': Bureau of Indian Affairs undergoes change in the Trump era". Indianz. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  25. "Notice of Senior Executive Service Performance Review Board Appointments". unblock.federalregister.gov. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  26. "Notice of Senior Executive Service Performance Review Board Appointments". FWS.gov. 2019-11-29. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  27. Sabbatini, Mark (2023-09-12). "U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola's husband dies in plane crash". Juneau Empire. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  28. "About Us | Alaska Carbon Solutions". Alaska Carbon Solutions LLC. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  29. "Eugene 'Buzzy' Peltola, husband of Rep. Mary Peltola, has died in a plane crash". KTOO. 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  30. "ANC23LA075.aspx". www.ntsb.gov. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  31. Downing, Suzanne (2023-09-13). "Breaking: Gene 'Buzzy' Peltola Jr. dies in plane crash". Must Read Alaska. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  32. Kitchenman, Andrew (2023-09-13). "Eugene Peltola Jr., retired BIA official and husband of U.S. Rep. Peltola, dies after plane crash". Alaska Beacon. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  33. Verge, Beth (2023-09-14). "Friends, family reflect on death of Eugene 'Buzzy' Peltola, Jr". Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  34. "Tweet from @SarahPalinUSA". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2023-09-14. Please pray for Mary & her family. So very, very sorry for their loss; the state of Alaska mourns the passing of Rep. Peltola's husband in tragic plane crash.
  35. "Eugene, Representative Peltola's Husband Dies in Plane Crash near Saint Marys Tuesday". Alaska Native News. 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  36. "Leader Jeffries Statement on Eugene Peltola, Jr". democraticleader.house.gov. 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  37. Schroeder, Kollette (2023-09-13). "Governor and First Lady Rose Dunleavy Mourn the Death of Gene Peltola". Mike Dunleavy. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  38. "Statement of President Joe Biden On the Passing of Eugene Peltola, Jr". The White House. 2023-09-14. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  39. "Listen: Eugene 'Buzzy' Peltola Jr. funeral and community reflection". KDLG. 2023-09-18. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  40. "City of Bethel, Alaska Resolution #11-31 A Resolution Certifying the Results of the October 4, 2011 Regular City Election". Bethel, Alaska. 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  41. Peltola Jr., Eugene (1986). The Status of the Bristle Thighed Curlew on the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge Alaska (PDF). Wader Study Group Bulletin.
  42. Wildlife Review. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. 1981.
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