Why Attend PLA 2027
Collective Knowledge
PLA 2027 will gather leaders from park, forest, refuge, and public lands partner organizations across the country in one place. It’s one of the rare opportunities to connect directly with peers from organizations facing similar challenges—whether that’s fundraising, retail operations, volunteer engagement, or agency collaboration.
Attendees often leave with practical connections that lead to future partnerships, shared resources, and new ideas they can bring back to their own sites.
Actionable Learning
PLA education sessions are grounded in real examples from public lands organizations. You hear directly from practitioners about what they’re testing, what succeeded, and what they’d do differently. Frequent topics include donor growth, retail strategy, board management, interpretation and storytelling, partnership management, and adapting to policy changes. PLA 2027 is a chance to learn from peers who understand the unique realities of working on public lands.
A One-Stop-Shop
The PLA Trade Show is highly specialized, bringing together vendors who understand mission-based retail, interpretive products, educational merchandise, and operational services for public lands partners. That makes it more than a standard expo—it’s a place to:
- source custom, mission-aligned merchandise
- identify new retail trends
- meet suppliers who understand federal site partnerships
- discover tools that can improve operations or visitor experiences
Building Community
Public lands work can be deeply rewarding but also isolating when organizations are spread across different parks, forests, and refuges. PLA 2027 creates space to reconnect with the larger movement.
Being in a room with hundreds of people committed to conserving and enhancing public lands reminds attendees that their work is part of something much bigger. That shared energy often becomes one of the most memorable and motivating parts of the event.