National Parks board member appointed to fill vacant TRPA seat

California Speaker of the Assembly Anthony Rendon has appointed Belinda Valles Faustinos to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Governing Board. Her appointment follows the recent resignation of Governing Board member Elizabeth Carmel, a fine art landscape photographer who represented the Speaker’s office on the board for the last three and a half years.

“My service on the Governing Board was both rewarding and challenging,” Carmel said. “I have the utmost respect for the work that is being done by TRPA to ensure the long-term protection of Lake Tahoe for future generations, and to balance the need for economic viability with environmental protection.”

Faustinos, a native of Southern California, previously served as executive officer of the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy, as well as executive officer of three joint powers authorities, the Watershed Conservation Authority, San Gabriel River Discovery Center Authority, and Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority.

“I am looking forward to this new opportunity to help protect and restore Lake Tahoe, one of our best national treasures,” Faustinos said.

Former Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar appointed Faustinos to the National Park System Advisory Board in 2009 and in 2011 appointed her co-chair of the American Latino Heritage Expert Scholars Panel. Interior of Secretary Sally Jewell extended her appointment to the National Park System Advisory Board in 2014. Faustinos also serves as an alternate board member of the California Coastal Commission.

Faustinos currently runs BVF Consulting, Inc. The firm’s primary client, San Gabriel Mountains Forever, worked with the office of President Obama in designating portions of the San Gabriel Mountains as a National Monument in October 2014.