Appointment of Robert D. Holtz as area director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Minneapolis, Minn., was announced today by Acting Secretary of the Interior Clarence A. Davis. He succeeds E. Morgan Pryse who retires from the Bureau December 31, after 35 years of service.
Holtz has been assistant area director at Minneapolis since last July. He first came with the Bureau in 1931 as a forest ranger with the Klamath Agency in Oregon and later served in the same capacity at Zuni Agency in New Mexico, and as forest supervisor at the Papago Agency, Sells, Ariz.
In 1939 he rose to the position of superintendent at the former Truxton Canyon Agency, Valentine, Ariz., and subsequently was superintendent of the Mescalero Agency, Mescalero, N. Mex., and the Fort Apache Agency, Whiteriver, Ariz. In 1951 he became area forester in the area office at Phoenix, Ariz., and after three years in this position he was transferred to the Gallup, N. Mex., area office assistant Director for resources.
A native of Iowa, Holtz received his bachelor of science degree in forestry from Iowa State College at Ames in 1930, and took post graduate work at Oregon State College, Corvallis, Oreg.
As area director at Minneapolis, he will supervise all Indian Bureau operations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan.
