WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Hispanic Access Foundation announced that Lissette Sanchez Bishins will serve as its Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and will oversee HAF’s programs and processes to help support the organization’s mission to connect Latinos with partners and opportunities to improve their lives and create an equitable society.

The morning of January 16th, 2018, I embarked on a five hour drive from my hometown in Reedley, CA to South Lake Tahoe, CA; to begin a new job with the USDA Forest Service. I accepted the job in December and almost changed my mind due to housing issues. South Lake Tahoe is a highly visited tourist area, therefore affordable housing is very difficult to find. Thankfully with the help of Hispanic Access Foundation and Co-workers whom I had not yet met, I was able to find a place to live.

WASHINGTON – Maite Arce, president and CEO of Hispanic Access Foundation, released the following statement in response to a peer-reviewed journal article that raises serious concerns about the Cadiz Water Project, a plan that would send water to Los Angeles and Orange counties by pumping groundwater from underneath a national park, national monument and other public lands in the Mojave Desert.

With only days remaining in the public comment period for the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule to eliminate the Clean Power Plan, Hispanic Access Foundation (HAF) is calling on Latinos across the nation to give input on this proposed rollback. Maite Arce, president and CEO of HAF, released the following statement:

Having spent my entire life in California, it would be easy to take our beaches, forests and one of a kind national parks for granted. Especially when you consider that for many of us, we are only two hours or less away from all three landscapes. In a typical day, we could stroll down the coast and then hike into the redwood forest. The outdoors of our beloved Golden State also attracts visitors from all over the world. For example, every summer Huntington Beach hosts the U.S. Open of Surfing and Joshua Tree National Park was visited by more than 2.8 million outdoor enthusiasts in 2018.

WASHINGTON, DC – Thirty-three members of Primaveral Association, a greater DC- metro area Guatemalan Hometown Association, went fishing this past Sunday at Enchanted Pond on the Bureau of Land Management’s Meadowood Special Management Area. The program held by the Bureau of Land Management and Hispanic Access Foundation taught multi-generational families basic fishing instruction, equipment, rules and great locations to fish in the state of Virginia. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries provided the grant to cover the cost of the fishing trip together with George W. H. Bush Vamos a Pescar ™ Education Fund.

I have learned so much during my brief time working with Fish and Wildlife employees. I have done a range of projects from fishing, gardening on a pollinator garden, and assisting with a bird banding demonstration. But the biggest project I have been working on is called the Abbey Brook Restoration Project in Springfield, Massachusetts. My supervisor thought this would be a wonderful opportunity for me to try, and I have loved every second of it.

As suddenly as an afternoon thunderstorm in the mountains after a morning of clear, bright skies, the summer has started and quickly almost passed. Since moving out here, I’ve been anxious for the summer – for hiking in the mountains, climbing in the Canyon, travel all around, and for all the wonderful, inspiring events and programs I’d get to be a part of. Now, almost August, it’s hard to believe it’s coming to an end. August, too, promises to be just as exciting and busy, but nearing the end of the summer months, I am filled with gratitude and appreciation for the things I’ve gotten to be a part of thus far.

It has been a beautiful season, so far, here at Chimney Rock National Monument. My day begins by arriving to the office at 8am. I meet with my supervisor and the other Chimney Rock Rangers and discuss how our days went at the site, including the game plan for the day. After our meetings, around 8:45am, we take off from the office on our shuttles and arrive to the site around 9:15am. My day officially begins when I arrive at the site. I start by greeting the public at our visitor's cabin since most of our visitors are congregated in that area. Like a Visitor Center at a National Park, our Visitor Cabin operates similar. The cabin has Tour informations, merchandise, snacks, drinks, and some archaeological artifacts from the Ancestral Puebloan site.

I joined the U.S. Forest Service Urban Connections team through a stroke of good fortune. The Resource Assistant stationed in Milwaukee before me left to pursue her dream career as a wildlife rehabilitator, leaving an opportunity for me to join the USFS and Hispanic Access Foundation in our effort to connect Latinos to the outdoors.