Kyle and Director Sams sit down together to discuss the National Park Service and the challenges of preserving and protecting 63 national parks, 84 national monuments, 5,000 bridges and 85 million acres of land.
Charles "Chuck" Sams is the 19th Director of the National Park Service. He is also the first tribal citizen to be nominated to this position. Director Sams is Cayuse and Walla Walla and is an enrolled member, and former executive director, of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Northeast Oregon, where he grew up. Before being appointed as Director, he served as the appointee for the state of Oregon to the Pacific Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
Like many in his family, Sams served in the United States Military. He was an Intelligence Specialist in the U.S. Navy.