If you had told me ten years ago that one day we would be sending our ZNHA newsletter through cyberspace, rather than on paper, I would not have believed you.
                Well, that day has come.
                You are reading the first exclusively electronic edition of Zion Horizons.  Last fall the ZNHA staff, in consultation with the Membership Committee from our board of directors, and our NPS partners, made the decision to convert our newsletter from the traditional hardcopy format to a digital-email publication.  It made sense on two important levels, both having to do with "sustainability."  First, it saves a significant amount of money-- making us more financially sustainable, thereby allowing us to provide more funding support to the park.  And second, by using less paper and creating less waste, it is a step in the direction of that other kind of "sustainability" which we are committed to.
                In recent years we have tried to take as many steps as possible to become a more sustainable organization.  Zion National Park Superintendent Jock Whitworth has placed sustainability near the top of his priority list and we have worked hard to follow the park's example.  Last year we took a major step toward sustainability by discontinuing the sale of bottled water in the park.  At first we were concerned that by doing so we would lose some of our financial sustainability.  Bottled water sales had become a significant part of our revenue stream.  But we turned that around by participating with the park in developing Zion spring water filling stations at the visitor center, museum and lodge.  Now we sell a variety of reusable water containers that can be filled and refilled with Zion Canyon spring water, and we are beginning to make up the loss in bottled water sales with increasing reusable container sales.  Visitors get to drink the pure spring water that seeps out of the canyon's Navajo Sandstone, we get to sell a nice variety of reusable water containers, and there are less disposable plastic bottles discarded along the trails and filling the park's garbage cans.
                We at ZNHA walk the continual tightrope of remaining financially sustainable while at the same time doing our best to be environmentally sustainable.  We cannot achieve our mission without generating revenue, but that mission would not be worth pursuing if we were not also contributing to the betterment of the place we've been charged to protect.
                If you are like me, you will miss having the printed word to hold in your hand as you read this newsletter. Hopefully, your consolation will be in knowing that ZNHA will be able to contribute a little more money to Zion National Park and use significantly less paper while still providing you with useful information about the place you love so much.
 
With All Best Wishes,
Lyman Hafen
Executive Director