Charles F. Sams III, former director of the park service, says cutting nearly a quarter of the agency’s staff decimated institutional knowledge in a way that can’t easily be righted, and threatens to break the emotional bonds Americans have with public lands.By Blaine Harden PENDLETON, Ore.—With the second coming of Donald J. Trump, the first Native American director of the National Park Service packed up his belongings in Washington, D.C., and retreated here to the sagebrush outback of eastern Oregon.
Observations from the Little Bunker
Last updated: January 27, 2026 08:12 PM
Atmospheric CO₂
428.6 ppm
+17.4
ppm/year
Atmospheric CH₄
1940.59 ppb
+-0.24
ppb/year
Global Temperature
+1.48 °C
Peak: +1.73°C
World Population
8.1 billion
+67
million/year