Charles Sams has been cramming to get on top of all the issues that confront him as the National Park Service's first Senate-confirmed director since January 2017/NPS

I had a short conversation with Charles Sams, the new director of the National Park Service who is getting his bearings in Washington with the agency. Understandably, as he’s being briefed on the multitude of issues across the National Park System and Park Service, the conversation didn’t dig deeply into many topics he found waiting for him.

Among my questions last week was why he was interested in the position.

"I have a neary 30-year background in conservation and protection of natural resources, and one of the issues that I had as a young conservationist was this idea that the United States was a pristine, wild area," Sams told me. "And as an American Indian, I fully understand that this whole landscape, the 2 billion acres that is currently the United States, was a managed landscape, had been for thousands of years.

"So there was this false premise that had existed in my career, that land and people are divided into two categories, when in fact, they are symbiotic and that symbiotic relationship is extremely important in understanding how to best protect and preserve those resources for future generations," he continued. "And my own cultural upbringing has come to play throughout my career, and I thought this would be a great culmination of those skillsets, to be able to bring (those skills), and to be of service to the United States and the American people in this role as National Park Service director."

While the Covid pandemic is keeping Sams from heading out to meet his far-flung staff at this time, he said he looks forward to having discussions with employees and managers concerning some of the issues he needs to confront, such as poor housing, pay levels, and harassment issues.

"I recognize that there are a lot of different points of interest that need to be dealt with," the director said. "I believe a lot of those answers come from the field. And so I think without having a director in place over the last five years, it's important that they find someone in place, and I'm happy to be that director, I'm very proud and honored to, so that I can get the information from the field to help address those issues, and to find those answers that exist and be able to put them in the best management practices."

On the issue of overcrowding in some parks, Sams told me he is discussing that problem with the Park Service’s leadership council of superintendents and regional director and plans to discuss it with gateway community leaders and tourism agencies to see how best to address crowding on a park-by-park basis as no one solution will work for every park in the system.

While the Great American Outdoors Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act are funneling billions of dollars into the National Park System, they are not providing much-needed dollars for personnel needs, such as salary improvements and better housing. The Build Back Better legislation does contain hundreds of millions of dollars for personnel, but that measure has been sidetracked by U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s opposition to it in its current form.

In light of that, Sams said he has been talking to members of Congress to explore ways to have that money provided in some other legislative vehicle.

"We're also looking internally on how we currently manage funds to figure out how to close that gap so that the human capital can actually be in place to be able to deal with it," said Sams. "It is very much on the forefront of our minds."

The new director no doubt has to feel like he’s drinking out of the proverbial firehose with all the issues he has been confronted with since being sworn in last month. How much help he’ll get from the administration should be revealed shortly, when President Biden submits his budget request to Congress. While Congress typically ignores these presidential requests, it should point to the administration’s desires for improving the National Park System and the Park Service.

Sams wouldn’t reveal any details of what that request might include, saying only that it’s an ongoing discussion.