The lean, green lodging machine

What's in a name? In the case of Xanterra Parks & Resorts, there's an abundance of greenery. Derived from "Xanadu," meaning "idyllic, beautiful place," and "terra," meaning "earth," this Colorado-based company's newly adopted moniker aptly describes its holdings. Formerly known as Amfac Parks & Resorts, Xanterra operates lodges, restaurants and other concessions at picturesque and precious national park and state park locations across North America.

While Amfac/Xanterra has long pledged a commitment to preserving and protecting the environment, its new company-wide environmental program, Ecologix, embraces a variety of proactive environmental stewardship initiatives for which the company has recently been commended. In 2002, Xanterra received the Environmental Achievement Award from the Region 9 Office of the Environmental Protection Agency in recognition of its advo-cacy efforts in Death Valley and Grand Canyon National Parks. The company also received consecutive Department of Interior Environmental Achievement Awards in 2001 and 2002.