Washington, D.C. – Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Jerold L. “Jerry” Gidner today announced that he has named William Tandy “Bill” Walker as the Regional Director of the BIA’s Southwest Regional Office in Albuquerque, N.M. His appointment became effective on December 20, 2009. The Southwest Regional Office oversees nine BIA agencies serving the 25 federally recognized tribes located in the states of New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas.
“I am pleased that Bill Walker has joined the ranks of Bureau of Indian Affairs senior regional executives,” Gidner said. “His years of experience working with BIA field staff, tribal governments, and other federal and state agencies make him a great addition to my team.”
Walker, a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, had been serving as the Acting Regional Director in the Southwest Regional Office in since September 2008. He is currently on a 120-day detail as the Acting Deputy Bureau Director of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services in Washington, D.C. The BIA OJS is responsible for managing the Bureau’s law enforcement, detention facilities and tribal courts programs, either directly in tribal communities or by funding tribally administered programs through contract and grants.
Prior to this detail, he had served as the Deputy Regional Director-Trust Services of the BIA’s Western Regional Office in Phoenix, Ariz.
Walker began his BIA career as a soil conservationist for the Land Operations Branch of the Fort Apache Agency in Whiteriver, Ariz., in 1992 and was named to the position of Environmental Protection Specialist for the agency in 1994. Walker completed the Criminal Investigator Training Program in 1999 and handled the Archaeological Resource Protection Act cases, wild land arson and environmental crime cases on the Fort Apache Reservation as the Environmental Protection Specialist. He served in that capacity until May of 2000 when he moved to the Regional Environmental Scientist position in the Southwest Regional Office. There he served on the EPA-New Mexico State Environmental Crime Task Force for two years representing the BIA.
In 2004 Walker was selected to be the Superintendent of the BIA’s Mescalero Agency in Mescalero, N.M., which he held until he was selected for the Deputy Regional Director-Trust Services post. A year later, he moved back to the Southwest Regional Office as the Deputy Regional Director-Trust Services and was detailed as the acting regional director until his appointment.
