Charles Sams fielded a range of questions during his confirmation hearing to become director of the National Park Service.

Charles F. Sams III told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday that his top priority if confirmed as National Park Service director would be to improve staff morale.

During the roughly two-hour hearing, in which the senators considered the nomination of Sams as well as that of Willie L. Phillips, Jr., as a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Brad J. Crabtree as an assistant secretary at the Department of Energy, the issues of Park Service staffing and the National Park System's maintenance backlog repeatedly came up as the senators questioned Sams.

"The one thing I've always learned in leadership is it's the people that are most important," Sams, who if confirmed would be the first Native American to serve as Park Service director, told Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who chairs the committee. "And therefore helping to improve the morale, listening to the staff, the long-term staff, and figuring out exactly what needs to be done to support them out in the field in order to be the good interpreters they are, to be able to take care of the parks in an appropriate way."

According to the 2020 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government survey, the Park Service ranks 353rd out of 411 agencies in terms of best agencies to work for. Only the Bureau of Indian Affairs ranks lower among Interior Department bureaus.

The hearing, largely pro forma in process, generated no vocal opposition to Sams, an enrolled member, Cayuse and Walla Walla, of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon. While he has no Park Service experience on his resume, it does show more than a quarter-century of working in state and tribal governments and the non-profit natural resource and conservation management fields. 

Outside groups such as the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks and the National Parks Conservation Association have praised his nomination and urged quick confirmation by the full Senate so Sams can get to work overseeing 423 units of the National Park System and more than 20,000 employees and a volunteer force that Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, put at more than 200,000.

Sen. Angus King, the Maine Independent who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on National Parks, acknowledged his concern about Sams coming from outside the Park Service.

"Mr. Sams, you have a very impressive resume. The only thing missing is National Park Service," said Sen. King. "Convince me that you're ready to take on this challenge having had no experience as a park ranger, or a park manager, or otherwise involved in the National Park Service."

Sams surely had anticipated such a question, and quickly pointed out his years as part of a tribal executive team that manages one of the country's original reserves on the Umatilla Indian Reservation and co-managing 6 million nearby acres with local, state, federal officials. "And that includes also national parks, parklands, and other resources," the nominee pointed out.

"And over my career I've actually worked inside of national parks, mostly with volunteers eradicating invasive species, cleaning up and doing preservation work, in addition to providing additional lands to national parks when I was with the Trust for Public Land," he continued. "And over the last decade I've worked very closely in my home state on a number of initiatives on Oregon's outdoors initiative and its parks initiative, helping the state director really figure out how we do traditional ecological knowledge, how we do interpretation."

Sen. King, who said he would support Sams' nomination, got the nominee to commit that he would fill his executive team with individuals with long experience in dealing with the various issues that arise across the park system and inside the Park Service.

Sams stands to become the first Senate-confirmed Park Service director since Jonathan Jarvis retired at the end of the Obama administration in January 2017. He also would come to the position in the wake of passage of the Great American Outdoors Act, landmark legislation adopted in 2020 that directs $6.5 billion to the Park Service over five years specifically to address the park system's maintenance backlog, which ranges somewhere around $12-$13 billion. (The National Park Service no longer announces the exact figure.)

Though the act has been much applauded, several senators pressed Sams to look into how the Park Service determines how and where to spend the $1.3 billion a year it is receiving, and what he would do about the pressures increased visitation was bringing to the park system and its employees.

"The increased visitation ... has had an impact on our park employees, really stretching the limits on infrastructure, as well as the landscapes," noted Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, who in July joined Sen. King in a subcommittee hearing exploring the issue of rising visitation in the National Park System and the problems it was creating. "Mr. Sams, if confirmed, what actions would you consider taking to encourage visitation while also ensuring that our parks and our park employees are protected and (getting) the resources that they need?"

Sams was of the opinion that visitation could be spread out across the park system to less-visited units through a public relations campaign, one that "is very inclusive to bring everyone into the parks so that they can enjoy these spaces."

Specific to infrastructure needs, Sams said employee housing is a critical need for many parks, and noted that in Montana some Park Service employees are housed 50 miles from their work stations.

Regarding the GAOA, Sen. Daines asked Sams, if confirmed, to see that the funding is "distributed fairly among the parks and the states, no matter their location or their size."

The fairness of how the Park Service is spending GAOA funding was raised by Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican who pointed out that Virginia, North Carolina, and New York, three states with miniscule amounts of federal lands, are receiving many millions more of GAOA dollars than is Utah, a state where he said the federal government owns 66-67 percent of the landscape and where national parks are struggling with maintenance issues.

"Virginia, North Carolina, and New York have gotten significant funds through the Great American Outdoors Act, receiving in the case of Virignia $247 million, $153 million in the case of North Carolina, and $50.5 million in the case of New York," Lee pointed out. 

Utah, however, has received just $7.3 million, the senator said. 

"Is that a fair and equitable allocation of those funds?" asked Lee.

Sams assured the senator that, if confirmed, he would review the process for spending GAOA dollars and get back to the committees for "review and discussion."

Lee was joined by Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, in asking what the Park Service could do to improve boating access at Lake Powell in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area that straddles the Utah-Arizona border. The long-running drought in the Southwest has left the lake at its lowest level since the Glen Canyon Dam was built in 1963 and has left many boat launches unusable.

"Do you think it's possible, Mr. Sams, for the National Park Service to utilize funding under the Great American Outdoors Act to adapt Lake Powell boat ramps for drought?" asked Sen. Kelly.

"It is possible," replied Sams.

The Coalition to Protect America's National Park, which has met with Sams to discuss his nomination and the issues confronting the Park Service, released a letter Monday urging his swift confirmation.

"... the ability of the NPS to fulfill this mission in recent years has been hindered by the impacts of climate change, chronic underfunding, the politicization of national parks, decreasing morale, overcrowding, and leadership vacancies. All of this has been compounded over the past four years due to the lack of a Senate-confirmed director to lead the agency," the letter reads. "We need a director capable of addressing these challenges, who can demonstrate strong leadership and care for the NPS workforce. We believe that Mr. Sams has the background, knowledge, and passion to become a leader and advocate for the National Park System.

"It is very apparent that Mr. Sams understands and deeply values preservation and conservation of resources. His professional background speaks to a man with diverse experience advocating on a range of environmental issues. He has led organizations, spent time protecting watersheds, worked with AmeriCorps programs, and understands the laws that require and assist us in resource preservation."

Also supporting the nomination is the National Parks Conservation Association.

“Charles Sams will be a fierce advocate for all National Park Service employees and for protecting natural and cultural resources in our parks. His people-first approach makes him an exceptional choice to lead as Park Service director," said President and CEO Theresa Pierno. "He has successfully led a tribal government and connected communities and businesses with solutions to address challenges from COVID to climate change, and the protection and management of sacred lands.

"He brings a unique and powerful perspective that will help our national parks grow relationships with diverse communities and address the tough issues they face – from overcrowding to infrastructure. After a long absence without a director, our parks deserve a leader with the experience and care of Mr. Sams," Pierno added. "The Senate must confirm him as National Park Service director so he can get to work for our parks, our rangers and those that hold these lands close.”