The executive director of the Kenai River Sportfishing Association will be resigning effective Jan. 1, according to a press release from the organization.

Ben Mohr, who has been the executive director of KRSA for nearly three years, said he’s stepping away to pursue another opportunity to lobby in Juneau.

In an interview with the Clarion Tuesday, he said he and his team have tripled membership over the last three years, continued to provide sportfishing classic tournaments and spearheaded watershed habitat conservation projects.

“I am super proud of all the work we’ve been able to do,” Mohr said. “We’ve had a lot of really, really big wins over the last few years.”

He moved to Alaska about 20 years ago, and had been looking for a way to permanently relocate to the central peninsula ever since. When Mohr was offered the job at KRSA he jumped at the chance, saying it was a “dream job” in a “dream town.”

He said his new job will allow him and his family to remain in Soldotna, and he still wants to be involved in volunteering with KRSA.

Leaving the association, Mohr said, will be no easy feat.

“It was an incredibly difficult decision,” he said. “It’s very hard to leave an organization like KRSA … but I’m not going far.”

Reach reporter Camille Botello at camille.botello@peninsulaclarion.com.