After several visits to Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument near Mountainair,
Kathy Faz Garcia found the sites to be a special part of the National Parks Service.
So when the superintendent position opened there, she jumped at the chance.
And Faz Garcia was recently named for the slot.
“About four years ago, I came here as a visitor and I fell in love with it,” she said. “The location, understanding the story behind the significance of the site. I visited a couple of more times even before I applied for the position. I loved the story. The landscape intrigued me. And what the staff is doing here in managing the site is something I wanted to be a part of. The way they have the community in mind, the preservation techniques. The Pathways program and how they invest in the local community workforce, teach preservation.”
Faz Garcia’s entire professional career has been with the Parks Service after she earned an internship as a community planner with the Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program.
In her role, she facilitated conversations between the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park along the Texas-Mexico border and Mexican stakeholders and partners on both sides to create a bi-national consortium.
That led to a staff position with the assistance program at the Pecos National Historical Park, where she stayed for about 18 months.
“I did initiate conversations with Northern New Mexico tribal communities to identify projects that the (assistance program) could assist with,” Faz Garcia said. “I did work on a few projects and when I first started the new job, I tried to get an understanding of communities and what and how the conservation priorities are before I could begin integrating some of my RTCA training.”
Her journey then took her to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in southern Colorado as the program manager of interpretation, education and visitor services at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in southern Colorado.
During her tenure at Great Sand Dunes, she also completed an assignment with the Secretary of the Interior’s Office to advance recreation and preservation initiatives in the San Luis Valley in Colorado and served as the acting superintendent for Petroglyph National Monument on the westside of Albuquerque.
“Kathy is a proven leader, with a diverse set of work experience including serving as acting superintendent and working for the Department of the Interior,” said Deputy Regional Director Brian Carlstrom. “She has a track record of building strong, collaborative partnerships to effectively protect park resources, making her a great fit for the Salinas Pueblo Missions team.”
The big thing Faz Garcia said she would like to continue is the strategic action plan developed by her predecessor, Lisa Baldwin, to increase visitation at the monument.
“To accomplish that I want to tap into the talent that’s already here to make that happen,” she said. “What I’ve witnessed is a lot of energy in how we use our partners to accomplish increased visibility for this monument. How field staff are already doing that on a daily basis and amplifying that by using my skill set and to continue to use partners we already work with and look beyond to look for unique partnerships.”
Among those are amplifying the site’s Night Sky designation, as well as delving into paleontological and archeological resources that are emerging, she said.
“Those two things are going to make us stand out, in addition to being a really unique resource as a mission site,” Faz Garcia said.