Executive Director

               People are always asking me questions about Zion National Park. I usually have an answer, or I know where to quickly find it. Yet when someone asks me, "What is Zion Natural History Association?" I often stumble as I struggle for the best way to define this organization. Perhaps that's because it's almost impossible to condense the story of who we are and what we do into one short "elevator speech."

               The ZNHA mission statement is a good place to start: "Zion Natural History Association is the non-profit organization working in partnership with the National Park Service to enhance visitor experience through financial support and educational services which promote stewardship of the natural and cultural resources of Zion National Park, Pipe Spring and Cedar Breaks National Monuments."

Lyman Hafen at the Historic Grotto House in Zion National Park 2009.

               It's a broad, overarching statement that still begs the question: "So what do you do?"

               Let me see if I can take you behind the scenes for a moment and show you. As a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit corporation, we are a private entity operating under a formal agreement with Zion National Park. We are not a part of the Park Service or the federal government. We are a private non-profit corporation with a mission to give aid to our partner. We operate under the governance of a board of directors and through consultation with and direction from the superintendent of Zion National Park. Our administrative offices are in the park's human history museum building, along with the NPS administrative offices. We work shoulder to shoulder with our park service partners and our key liaison is the park's chief of interpretation and visitor services.

                 ZNHA traces its relationship with Zion National Park back to 1929. However, it has been in the last 25 years that the association has grown from a one-person operation selling a few books and maps in a single park visitor center, to a thriving organization employing more than 20 people and generating nearly $3 million in gross revenue a year, with more than $800,000 returned to the park in aid. In the last ten years ZNHA's publishing and retailing operations have become the basis from which an educational arm and a fundraising arm have emerged. The educational arm, Zion Canyon Field Institute, offers more than 80 fee-based educational programs in the park each year. The fundraising arm, Zion National Park Foundation, focuses on direct fundraising through campaigns, projects and special events, and is now raising more than $80,000 a year that goes directly to fund important programs in the park.

               Our bookstores in Zion National Park, Cedar Breaks and Pipe Spring National Monuments, offer a variety of great interpretive products to visitors. Books, maps, DVDs, posters, guides, and numerous other products are sold at moderate prices. Our scope of sales agreement with the park service dictates the types and quality of products we can sell, with particular emphasis on items that add to the visitor's understanding and appreciation of Zion and it's surrounding public lands. That's a win on the visitor's side, and the win on the park's side is that approximately 25 cents of every dollar spent in our bookstores, goes back to the park. Most of the products we sell in the bookstores are purchased at wholesale from outside publishers and vendors. But many of the most popular products we sell are items we publish or produce through ZNHA. For example, our most popular book, "Water, Rock & Time: The Geology of Zion National Park," is published by ZNHA, as are many of our other books, posters and interpretive products.

               In other words, we do our best to run the most successful business we can in Zion National Park and our publishing and retail operations make it possible for us to also run the Field Institute and the Foundation.

               This is all made possible by a staff that works behind the scenes in our Zion office, as well as our great corps of managers and sales associates who interact directly with visitors at our bookstores in the Zion Canyon Visitor Center, the Zion Human History Museum, the Kolob Canyons Visitor center, the Pipe Spring National Monument Visitor Center, and the Cedar Breaks National Monument Visitor Center. Through an agreement with the State of Utah, we also operate a bookstore in the Utah Travel Council Visitor Center at Council Hall in Salt Lake City.

Here's a peek behind the scenes of ZNHA:  

       Joann Hinman is our Director of Finance and Human Resources. She assures proper business management of the association and takes care of all financial matters from preparing annual budgets and reports, to accounting for all aspects of our operations, to overseeing payroll, to paying invoices and a whole list of other duties. Over the past 18 years she has played a key role in the success of ZNHA, always keeping us in the black.

        Tracy Jones is our Director of Marketing and Communications. Her skills in graphic design and on-line media allow us to communicate with thousands of members and friends interested in the future of Zion National Park. She is editor of the newsletter and designs and produces all of our promotional materials and special event marketing. She oversees our website, Facebook account, and performs numerous other duties that keep ZNHA moving successfully forward.

        Karolee Dennett is our Office Administrator and Membership Coordinator. She wears many hats as she is the voice you hear on the phone, the person who sends your membership renewal letters, and plays a key role in nearly every aspect of ZNHA's operations.

       Michael Plyler is Director of the Zion Canyon Field Institute. He oversees the year-round, fee-based educational programs in Zion and surrounding areas. He plans the programs, hires the instructors, prepares all the marketing information and oversees the presentations, as well as teaches many of the institute's photo workshops. He also plays a key role in our Foundation fundraising efforts. 

       Tammy Eberhard is our Operations Manager and oversees the ZNHA warehouse and all the association's shipping, receiving and distribution of products to our bookstores. She manages the association's mail-order and website fulfillment and represents ZNHA on important Zion National Park committees including the Green Team and the Safety Committee.

       Toni Tracy is our Warehouse Technician. She works hands-on at keeping the warehouse functioning on an efficient basis and handles the distribution of products to our bookstores as well as shipping and receiving of product. 

        Jill Burt is ZNHA's Director of Retail. She is responsible for all the association's retail operations both within and outside Zion National Park. She is the direct supervisor of our bookstore managers and is responsible for merchandising, product selection, inventory, cost controls, staffing, vendor relations and various other functions. In her first two years at ZNHA she has helped propel the association to record sales.