Lyman Hafen’s legendary leadership gains national attention

ST. GEORGE — Lyman Hafen’s well-worn, comfortable cowboy boots symbolize his strong, steady guidance as the leader of the Zion Forever Project for the last 25 years. 

(L to R) National Park Service Director, Charles Sams III, President & CEO, Zion National Park Forever Project, Lyman Hafen and U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Interior, Tommy Beaudreau, Washington, D.C., Aug. 24, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Billie Rayford, St. George News

And Wednesday, Hafen was presented with the James V. Murfin Lifetime Achievement Award for park partner associations from the National Park Service and the Department of Interior in Washington, D.C.

The award recognizes an individual who has made significant and lasting contributions throughout their career to strengthen partnerships between the National Park Service and cooperating associations, according to the National Park Service website. 

The Zion Forever Project is a non-profit that partners with Zion National Park and Cedar Breaks and Pipe Spring national monuments. Hafen has been associated with them since the early days as the Zion Natural History Association for 35 years. Hafen has collaborated with six Zion National Park superintendents, park service employees, Zion Forever Project staff and community leaders. 

Hafen also has announced he is retiring at the end of the year. He and his wife Debbie have decided to move on to “the next chapter” in their lives. But Hafen plans always to be connected to Zion Forever Project. He feels it is time for new leadership and is committed to helping in any way to continue the mission of the group and supporting the Park and Monuments. 

“I realize it’s time for Zion Forever to move forward under a new generation of leadership,” Hafen said. “I’ll help in any way I can to continue the movement we’ve established over the past three decades. Our excellent board of directors, stellar staff, and deeply committed circle of supporters are well-positioned to welcome a new chief executive and move our work into a great new era.”

Lyman Hafen, president & CEO, Zion National Park Forever Project, at Scout’s Lookout, Zion National Park, Utah, unspecified date | Photo courtesy of Glenn Price, St. George News

Jeff Bradybaugh, Zion National Park superintendent, told St. George News  Hafen had been a catalyst for conservation, collaboration and community engagement in Southwest Utah, the Colorado Plateau and nationally. Hafen’s leadership and service spanned across the Zion Natural History Association/Zion National Park Forever Project, the Peaks, Plateaus and Canyons Association and the Public Lands Alliance, among other organizations.

“A student of history, author and superb storyteller, Lyman’s work has advanced the conservation of cultural and natural resources across our public lands in his own unique, homespun style,” Bradybaugh said. “Lyman is most deserving of recognition for contributions to public lands resource conservation and service to the non-profit organizations that support national parks and public lands management and the opportunity for the visiting public to thoroughly understand these values and gain an enhanced visitor experience.”

Hafen said he has felt blessed to combine his love of storytelling with the needs of the unique landscapes that the Zion Forever Project champions. He came from a publishing background and was the founding editor of St. George Magazine. Connecting people to the park and the monuments has always been his goal.

Hafen worked with the organization to become a productive partner to Zion National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument and Pipe Spring National Monument. In the beginning, there were only three people. The staff has now grown to 15. Hafen said the non-profit has grown and expanded more than he ever imagined. 

“When I came to work at Zion Forever, I carried a vision of what this organization could become. It has become something light-years beyond what I ever imagined. It is a testament to the great people who have and continue to lead and work here,” Hafen said.

Hafen said it’s vital that the community focuses energy, passion and resources on the landscape’s stories, so its history is told to future generations.

“As one who spends much of his time looking back at history, I’ve been fortunate to be surrounded by visionary people focused on the future,” Hafen said. “Our focus is shifting from Zion’s past to its future. An important part of our mission will always be to accurately and compellingly share the stories, the natural and human history, that got us here.”

Zion Forever Project’s predecessor, the Natural History Association’s mission, was to create, publish, produce and make information available to enhance visitors’ experiences. Also, visitors can purchase a book, poster map or item to improve their experience. The profits would support the park, Hafen said. Some examples include creating park newspapers to give out free to the public or to fund the Junior Ranger Program. 

The organization has evolved over the years to have 15 staff members and cooperates with many community partners. 

Hafen said it was an adjustment to move from a private business to a non-profit and work with a federal agency. The non-profit always strived to produce excellent products to help the park and monuments. 

“We create a good product, make a profit, but that profit goes back to your partner. And it just so happens that that partner is the National Park Service. This federal agency is the government, which is a completely different animal than I had ever wrestled with,” Hafen said. “I mean that in a positive way because my experience working with the National Park Service has been nothing but positive. I think that’s because I came into this knowing that it would require patience and adaptability.”

Hafen said he has enjoyed working with their federal partners, who are great people and must work within their agency’s constraints and policies. He said this was like marrying a private organization, a non-profit, with a federal public agency, which could be challenging. The group was known in the 1990s as the Zion Foundation. They began to expand from retail efforts to raising money for Zion National Park.

One of the secrets to the non-profit’s success over the years, Hafen said, was to “make sure I brought in good people who knew what they were doing.” 

One of the areas he is proud of is the creation of the Zion Canyon Field Institute, formed to be an educational arm of the Zion Forever Project. Hafen credits former Zion National Park Superintendent Marty Ott with guiding them to increase education to the public. 

“We have an educational arm where we have classes, courses or workshops or different opportunities for people to have a more intimate educational experience in Zion,” Hafen said. “The Zion Canyon is your classroom. And we developed that over many years.”

 In 2015 and 2016, the Zion Foundation went into a transition to lead it to the current Zion Forever Project. The organization met with consultants and community stakeholders. Hafen said they wanted to encompass everything they had traditionally done, including publishing, retailing, fundraising and educational efforts. 

“So it set us on a course to become the kind of partner with our park where we can be a catalyst and a facilitator for a lot of other things,” Hafen said. “One of the great results of that is the East Side initiative and how that’s all come together.”

He said that it was hard to imagine 25 years ago the East Side initiative coming together with so many people and groups involved. 

One of Hafen’s favorite programs, the Plein Air Art Show, suffered a blow when COVID-19 hit. He hopes the event will re-emerge because celebrating art in Zion Canyon is a natural fit.

“The show is one of the most meaningful ways to honor this place. It’s so awesome because this place would not be a national park if it weren’t for those early artists who painted it, took those paintings back to Washington, and made that connection with Congress and the country,” Hafen said.

The director of the Zion Forever Project, Mark Preisis, said Hafen exemplifies the term “service.”

“It may be true that the source of Mr. Hafen’s service springs from Zion; we understand that his work extends across the entirety of our National Park System,” Preisis said. “Lyman’s integrity and vision, working alongside leaders like Zion National Park Superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh, has established the Zion Forever Project as one of the country’s most deeply respected non-profit partners. We look forward to his new book.”

When Hafen retires in January, he looks forward to spending more time with his grandchildren and teaching them about horsemanship. Hafen grew up in the St. George area, roaming the outdoors. His family also owned a ranch in Clover Valley, Nev. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Argentina from 1974-76. Hafen graduated from Dixie College in 1977. He credits his English professor Ed Reber and his mentor Karl Brooks with turning his focus from riding to writing.

In 1977, he married Debbie Frei of Santa Clara, Utah. Hafen graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s degree in Communications in 1979. Hafen was co-founder of ‘St. George Magazine’ and was its editor for 16 years. Hafen has written many fiction, nonfiction books and documentaries.

Hafen’s latest book is going to be available this week in the Park’s bookstore. “The Way to Angels Landing” is a children’s book for all ages illustrated by Roland Lee. The book is based upon Hafen’s boyhood memories of Zion National Park.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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