Chuck Sams brings more than 35 years of professional experience and has occupied many important leadership positions. Currently, he is Oregon’s Council Member on the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, serves as Oregon Tribes Scholar in Residence, and is a Senior Fellow with the Native Environmental Sovereignty Project at the University of Oregon’s Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center. He also is Director of Indigenous Programs at Yale’s Center for Environmental Justice and lectures at Yale’s Environmental School. Previously, Chuck was the 19th director of the National Park Service within the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Chuck possesses a Master of Legal Studies in Indigenous Peoples Law from the University of Oklahoma School of Law. Additionally, he holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with concentrations in Management, Communications, and Leadership from Concordia University.

Chuck served as an Intelligence Specialist in the U.S. Navy with assignments at an Attack Squadron, Joint Intelligence Center Pacific Command, and Defense Intelligence Agency Headquarters. His areas of expertise included Soviet/Russian, Middle Eastern, and Chinese affairs, as well as anti-terrorism.

Chuck is an enrolled citizen/tribal member of the Cayuse and Walla Walla tribes with the CTUIR. Chuck, Lori, and their daughter Ruby reside in Pendleton, Oregon. Their older children—Rose, Chauncey, and Clara—are leading fulfilling lives as adults. The family loves to camp, hike, bike, hunt, and fish.

Chuck received Honorary Doctorates in Humane Letters from Portland State University and Whitman College; the 2025 LaGasse Medal (American Society of Landscape Architects); 2025 Lone Sailor Award (U.S. Navy Memorial); 2024 Oregon History Maker (Oregon Historical Society); and the Walter T. Cox Award (Clemson University Institute for Parks).

Other Leadership Roles

• Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR)
• CEO/President of the Indian Country Conservancy
• Executive Director of the Umatilla Tribal Community Foundation
• National Director for the Tribal & Native Lands Program at the Trust for Public Land
• Executive Director of the Columbia Slough Watershed Council
• Executive Director of the Community Energy Project
• CEO/President of the Earth Conservation Corps
• House Manager for the City Volunteer Corps of New York Education