Commissioner Vincent-Lang Names George Pappas Director of the Division of Subsistence
— ADF&G Press Release

Doug Vincent-Lang, Commissioner
P.O. Box 115526
Juneau, Alaska 99811-5526

Press Release: February 26, 2025

CONTACT: Shannon Mason, shannon.mason@alaska.gov

Commissioner Vincent-Lang Names George Pappas Director of the Division of Subsistence

(Anchorage) — ADF&G Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang today announced that George Pappas will join the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) as Director of the Division of Subsistence.

"Subsistence plays a critical role in hundreds of communities in Alaska," stated Vincent-Lang. "George understands that subsistence fishing and hunting are vital for the economies and cultures of many Alaskan families and communities, especially in rural areas. We are proud to have George join us with his wealth of knowledge. He is committed to researching Alaskans' customary and traditional uses of our resources and providing for their families".

Pappas recently served as the State Subsistence Liaison for the Office of Subsistence Management under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of the Interior for 15 years. Before that, he worked for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in various roles. He began his career in 1994 as a Fisheries Biologist for the Division of Commercial Fisheries in Dutch Harbor. In 1999, he was promoted to Area Management Biologist, overseeing commercial salmon and Pacific herring fisheries from a remote field station among the rural Chignik villages in the Chignik Management Area (CMA). By 2003, he had moved to Soldotna, where he managed all sport, personal use, and educational fisheries in the Northern Kenai Peninsula Management Area.

Originally from Denver, Colorado, Pappas relocated to Alaska, making Anchorage his home. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington. He later attended the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) in Unalaska for Private Pilot Ground School in 1998. As the Director of Subsistence, he will lead the division in scientifically researching and documenting Alaskans' diverse traditions and practices in using wild resources.

Pappas will start at the department on March 10, 2025. He enjoys bear hunting, fishing, scuba diving, smoking fish, and being an accomplished crab taxidermist in his free time.