Chuck Sams is the director of the National Park Service. An enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Northeast Oregon, he is Cayuse and Walla Walla and has blood ties to the Cocopah Tribe and Yankton Sioux of Fort Peck. Previously, Sams was a Pacific Northwest Power and Conservation Council member, appointed by Oregon Governor Kate Brown. Prior to that, he was executive director for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. For over 25 years, Sams has worked in tribal and state government and in the nonprofit natural resource and conservation management field. He is a veteran of the Navy, where he served as an intelligence specialist.
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Protecting wild spaces helps to conserve the species that call them home — and is one of the best strategies for meeting global climate goals. National parks and other protect...