Michael Chavarria is a longtime resident and member of Santa Clara Pueblo. Governor Chavarria has served in many roles within the Pueblo of Santa Clara. As a forestry director Mr. Chavarria served as a coordinator for the emergency response efforts during Las Conchas Fire and subsequent flooding events which devastated the natural resources of the Pueblo and threatened homes in the community. For the past two years he and oversaw the multiple restoration projects in the Santa Clara Creek watershed and established a project team of Pueblo departments and other federal entities such as FEMA, Fish and Wildlife, Forest Service and the BIA to consolidate efforts and establish schedules for implementation. As Governor for Santa Clara Pueblo, he served 3 terms as the tribal co-chair for the EPA Region 6 Tribal Operations Committee and worked with the other tribes in the region to identify issues during the caucus and then press the environmental issues of concern during the committee meetings. He educated Regional Administrators Richard Greene and Al Armendariz on aspects of Tribal Government and history. As tribal co-chair Governor Chavarria gathered a tribal team to create the Region 6 Transition Document which is still to be used to educate EPA officials on a regional and national level. Michael Chavarria was again elected governor for the Pueblo of Santa Clara in 2014 and continues to work to make the restoration of the Santa Clara Creek watershed a primary focus and advocate for continuation and growth tribal programs to protect Indian lands and the environment throughout the nation.
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