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- Karl Wirkus Selected As Pacific Northwest Deputy Regional Director For Reclamation
News Release Archive
Karl Wirkus Selected As Pacific Northwest Deputy Regional Director For Reclamation
Media Contact:
John Redding, (208) 378-5212, jredding@pn.usbr.gov
For Release: September 06, 2005
Karl Wirkus was selected to serve as the new Deputy Regional Director for the Bureau of Reclamation's Pacific Northwest Region. He replaces Ken Pedde who retired earlier this summer.
Wirkus currently serves as the Regional Manager for Resource and Technical Services in Reclamation's Regional Office in Boise, Idaho.
"Karl's breadth of Reclamation experience and leadership skills will be a tremendous asset as he takes on his new responsibilities," said Regional Director Bill McDonald. "He has deep roots in Idaho and other parts of the region. I have complete faith in his ability to carry out the job with integrity and professionalism."
Wirkus started with Reclamation's Water and Power Resources Services in 1981 as physical science aid in Boise. He returned as a student trainee in 1984, and completed his Bachelor of Science degree in geology in November of 1984. After graduating from Boise State University, he was reassigned as a geologist to Jackson, Wyoming.
In 1989, he was assigned to the Bend Construction Office in Oregon. He was promoted in 1992 to supervisory geologist and resident construction manager. Wirkus returned to Idaho and assumed the job as Regional Liaison Officer in 1993 and a year later he worked as Resources Management Officer for the Snake River Area Office in Burley, Idaho.
When 1996 came around, he assumed the position of area manager at the Klamath Basin Area Office, in Oregon. In 2001, he served as the deputy regional director for the Reclamation's Great Plains Region based in Billings, Montana.
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