Leadership

Regional Forester

The Regional Forester is responsible for managing and providing oversight for 22 million acres across two National Forests in Southcentral and Southeast Alaska. This includes coordinating activities between National Forests, monitoring activities on those lands to ensure quality operations, providing guidance for forest plans, and allocating budgets to each Forest.

Jerry Ingersoll

Regional Forester, Alaska Region

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Jerry Ingersoll has been serving as the Acting Regional Forester for the Forest Service, Alaska Region since Nov. 2, 2025. 

Prior to his current position, Jerry spent five years as a Forest Service Senior Executive, serving as the National Director of the Job Corps Program, which oversees 24 Civilian Conservation Centers nationwide.  In this role, Jerry provided leadership over a rigorous vocational training program with a demanding academic curriculum designed to provide students with skills for excelling in the workforce. He served in the role on an interim basis beginning in February 2020 and was selected for the position permanently in August 2020. 

Before leading the agency’s Job Corps Program, Jerry served as the Deputy Regional Forester for the Alaska Region from April 2018 to February 2020 and the Forest Supervisor on the Siuslaw National Forest in Oregon from March 2010 to April 2018. During his time as Forest Supervisor, Jerry built a reputation for collaboration, watershed restoration, and stewardship. In addition to these leadership roles, Jerry worked from January 1999 to September 2004 as District Ranger on the Tongass National Forest in Ketchikan, Alaska. 

Jerry began his Forest Service career in 1985 working as a John Gardner Fellow. His 40-year career has taken him to multiple locations across the country, including roles in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, DC. 

Jerry holds a Bachelor of Science in Forestry and a Master of Science in Wildland Resource Science from University of California, Berkeley.