Join us at 7:00 p.m. on April 9 at Pendleton Center for the Arts for a conversation about the relationship between people and public lands with Chuck Sams, who was until very recently the director of the National Parks Service. Charles F. "Chuck" Sams III is Cayuse and Walla Walla and an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Northeast Oregon, where he grew up. He also has blood ties to the Cocopah Tribe and Yankton Sioux of Fort Peck.
In conversation with Adam Davis, Sams will explore how public interest informs public policy. How does traditional ecological knowledge factor into federal land management? How can we balance differing perspectives when it comes to highly contested issues like climate change and water rights? How do our relationships with the land impact the laws that govern it?
This event will take place in-person at the Pendleton Center for the Arts (214 N Main St, Pendleton, OR 97801). Doors will open at 6:00 p.m, and the event will begin at 7:00 p.m. The event will end at 8:30 p.m.
Sams most recently served as the nineteenth director of the United States National Park Service from December 2021 to January 2025. Before that, he was Oregon Governor Kate Brown's appointee to the Pacific Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NW Council). Prior to joining the NW Council, he served as executive director for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. For thirty years, Sams has worked in tribal and state government, and in the nonprofit natural resource and conservation management field, with an emphasis on the responsibility of strong stewardship for land preservation for this and future generations.
This event is part of The People and the Public, our 2024–25 Consider This series.
Tickets
Tickets are available for $15 (General Admission) and $30 (Conversation Starter). To purchase tickets, please use this form.
To ensure that everyone who wants to attend is able to, we make a portion of tickets free. To request a no-cost ticket, please use this form.
If you’re able to pay for a ticket, we ask that you do so to help keep this program accessible to all. When you buy a Conversation Starter ticket, you help keep ticket prices low for everyone. Oregon Humanities uses income from Consider This ticket sales to pay for venue rental and honoraria for our guests.
Other ways to participate
Can't make it in person? The conversation will be broadcast live, for free, on our YouTube channel, so you can tune in from anywhere.
About the venue
- Mobility access: Pendleton Center for the Arts is wheelchair accessible via a ramp and elevator to the right of the main entrance. This video shows a mobility tour of the space. There is a curb cut at the crosswalk in front of the building. If you would like to reserve a parking space in front of the venue for mobility reasons, please call Portland Center for the Arts at 541-278-9201
- Parking: There are free parking lots available within two blocks of the venue to the west on Bailey Ave., to the north on Main Street., and across the river at 1st and Byers and 1st and Court.
- Food and drink: No food or drink will be provided at the event. Outside food and drink are permitted.
- Lighting: The venue has appropriate overhead lighting.
Please contact Roberta Lavadour with questions about the venue at 541-278-9201 or director@pendletonarts.org. If you would like to participate in this event and need accommodations such as ASL interpretation to do so, please contact Ben Waterhouse at b.waterhouse@oregonhumanities.org by March 28.
Thanks to our sponsors
This series is made possible by funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Oregon Cultural Trust, The Standard, Susan Hammer Fund of Oregon Community Foundation, and Pacific West Bank.
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