If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Charles F. “Chuck” Sams III, a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation who has worked in land management and natural resource fields for decades, would be the first Native person to serve as director of the NPS, which is part of the Department of the Interior.

Tribal citizen nominated to lead National Park Service for first time in history

President Biden is once again making history with his choice to lead the National Park Service, the federal agency that oversees millions of acres of ancestral tribal territories and treaty lands.