Editor’s note: The Chairman’s Report will resume in a future issue of Siletz News.
Sams sworn in as National Park Service director, first Native to lead agency
WASHINGTON – Charles F. “Chuck”
Sams III was ceremonially sworn in as
director of the National Park Service
(NPS) by Secretary of the Interior Deb
Haaland on Dec. 16. Sams is the first
Tribal citizen to lead the agency, which has
been without a Senate-confirmed leader
for nearly five years.
“Everyone should have access to
the outdoors no matter where they live,
how much money they have or what their
background is. Chuck Sams understands
the importance of connecting people to
nature and I am thrilled to work with
him as the Interior Department works
to make our national park system acces-
sible to all Americans,” said Haaland.
“Under his leadership, the National
Park Service will continue to protect
our public lands for generations to come
and make critical investments in the vast
infrastructure that sustains our public
lands and national parks.”
“I am honored to serve as director
of the National Park Service and thank
President Biden and Secretary Haaland
for entrusting in me the care of one of
America’s greatest gifts – our National
Park System. I am also incredibly proud to
work with the dedicated employees of the
National Park Service. I have no doubt that
together, we’ll be able to expand access
to the outdoors, protect America’s public
lands and upgrade our nation’s infra-
structure system through the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law,” said Sams.
In his capacity overseeing NPS,
Sams will help implement the Great
American Outdoors Act and the Bipar-
tisan Infrastructure Law. In addition to
historic funding for climate resiliency
initiatives and legacy pollution cleanup,
the infrastructure law provides for a five-
year reauthorization of the Federal Lands
Transportation Program, which will help
invest in repairing and upgrading NPS
roads, bridges, trails and transit systems.
The law also invests in projects that
will help fund bridge replacements and
resiliency, repair ferry boats and terminal
facilities, and maintain wildlife cross-
ings that keep people and surrounding
wildlife safe.
Sams has worked in state and Tribal
governments and the nonprofit natural
resource and conservation management
fields for more than 25 years. He most
recently served as a council member to
the Northwest Power and Conservation
Council, appointed by Gov. Kate Brown.
He has held a variety of roles with
the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation, most recently as its
executive director. He has also had roles as
the president/CEO of the Indian Country
Conservancy, executive director for the
Umatilla Tribal Community Foundation,
national director of the Tribal & Native
Lands Program for the Trust for Public
Land, executive director for the Colum-
bia Slough Watershed Council, executive
director for the Community Energy Project
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Siletz News
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January 2022
Member of the Native American
Journalists Association
and president/CEO for the Earth Conser-
vation Corps.
Sams holds a Bachelor of Science
degree in business administration from
Concordia University-Portland and a Mas-
ter of Legal Studies in Indigenous peoples
law from the University of Oklahoma. He
is a veteran of the U.S. Navy.
Chuck is an enrolled member, Cayuse
and Walla Walla, of the Confederated Tribes
of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, where
he lives with his wife and their four children.
Elders Council Meeting
The Elders Council will hold a virtual Zoom meeting on Saturday, Jan. 15,
2022, at 1 p.m.
If you are interested in participating in the virtual meeting from your phone,
computer or smart phone, please contact the Elders Program at 541-444-8233
by Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022.