Biden nominates Chuck Sams, longtime Oregon tribal leader, as National Parks Service Director

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President Joe Biden nominated Chuck Sams, a longtime tribal leader from Oregon, as National Parks Service Director.

The 50-year-old Sams, a former administrator of the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation, is the president’s choice to run the service, which oversees a system that attracts 318 million visitors every year.

If approved by the U.S. Senate, Sams would be the first Native American to serve as National Parks Director. He is an enrolled member of the Cayuse and Walla Walla tribes, which are part of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in northeastern Oregon. He and his wife, Lori Sams, and their four children live there.

Biden nominates Chuck Sams, longtime Oregon tribal leader, as National Parks Service Director

 

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President Biden Nominates Umatilla Tribal Citizen, Charles F. Sams III, for Director the National Park Service

President Joe Biden nominated Charles F. Sams III, a tribal citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla, on Wednesday to serve as the director of the National Park Service. Sams needs to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate and if he is confirmed, he will be the first American Indian to head the National Park Service.

Sams currently serves as a council member to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, as appointed by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown.

President Biden Nominates Umatilla Tribal Citizen, Charles F. Sams III, for Director the National Park Service | Currents

 

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Here is another relevant article.

Meet the New Man Behind the National Park Service

The park service’s first Native American director, Charles F. Sams III, has plans to address overcrowding, improve accessibility and share the country’s untold stories.

Last December, Charles F. Sams III made history when he became the first Native American to be appointed director of the National Park Service. He had his work cut out for him.

The number of visitors to the biggest parks in the United States is at an all-time high, road repairs and other infrastructure upgrades are badly needed and climate change poses an increasing threat through coastal erosion, landslides, floods and other effects. To address these issues, Congress in 2020 passed a $9.5 billion package known as the Great American Outdoors Act, which Mr. Sams will help implement.

It’s a big job, yet Mr. Sams has spent a career navigating the complexities of tribal land management. Most recently, he served as the executive director of the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation in northeast Oregon, where he now lives. Mr. Sams, who is Cayuse and Walla Walla, credited his grandfather with instilling in him a responsibility to native plants and wildlife.

“He would ask me questions from time to time, to paint a picture of our relationship, as humans, with the flora and fauna,” he said. “That was an important part of my education growing up.”

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