Our Impact

Throughout the 43-day federal government shutdown, Public Lands Alliance (PLA) consistently updated members of Congress on the growing negative impacts on public land nonprofits. 

Since January, PLA has been actively responding to federal changes that impact our public lands. This includes:

• Responding to the call for comments by the House Appropriations Subcommittee Committee on Natural Resources, Environment, and Related Agencies. Read the comment. 
• Authoring a letter to the Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, asking for an immediate pause in the termination of federal leases by the Department of the Interior. Read the Letter.
• Submitting a letter to NPS regarding the impact of seasonal employees on nonprofit partners. Read the letter.
• Joining 494 groups in a letter to Congress asking to reverse the public land management agency terminations. Read the letter.
• Responding to NPS Director's Order #20 on behalf of our members. Read the comment.  

In May, PLA's leadership team and Board of Directors held meetings with twenty-four federal officials, including members of Congress and acting Directors of the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

These meetings focused on educating elected officials about our members, why appropriate staffing and budgeting of public land management agencies are critical, and asking them to pass the newly introduced "America the Beautiful Act."

Immediately following the start of the October 1st government shutdown, PLA created a resource page for members that included:

• Agency contingency plans
• Agency template agreements for conditional approval to stay open and support parks with donation dollars
• Constituent communications examples from various members, including emails, landing pages, press releases, and formal statements from nonprofit leaders. 
• Advice for federal grant recipients 

This year, we have strengthened our members by providing 10 educational webinars:

• Exploring Public Lands Through Creative Partnerships: A Case Study
• Beyond the Park Gates: Building Meaningful Connections to Public Lands with K-12 Classrooms
• Advocacy 101 for Public Lands Partners
• Eco-Conscious Retail: Start Small & Make a Big Impact
• Major Donor Fundraising Part 1: An Overview – Identifying, Cultivating, and Asking for Major Gifts
• Major Donor Fundraising Part 2: Essential Stories and Adapting for the Current Landscape
• Major Donor Fundraising Part 3: Effective Major Donor Meetings - Seize the Moment to Secure the Gift
• Brand GPT: Harnessing the Power of AI for Marketing
• Reconnecting to Purpose Through Place
• Host Elected Officials on Your Public Lands This Summer

View upcoming webinars here

During the October government shutdown, PLA hosted weekly "Shutdown Check-in" meetings with executive leaders to share insights and information with the community. Over 70 individuals regularly attended, and the knowledge shared often resulted in additional resources being added to the shutdown resources page.  

This year, we have welcomed 13 new Public Lands Partners and 2 new *Community Allies to the PLA community:

• *American Conservation Experience
• American Hiking Society
• Crossroads Carnegie Art Center, Inc.
• Friends of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument
• Friends of De Soto National Memorial
• Friends of New River Gorge National Park & Preserve
• Friends of Patuxent Research Refuge
• Friends of Raystown Lake
• Friends of Stones River National Battlefield
• Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail
• Friends of the National Elk Refuge
• Joshua Tree Creative Laboratory
• Oregon-California Trails Association 
• Mark Twain Lake Visitor and Educational Resource Center Committee
• *Trails Foundation of Northern Utah

View all our Public Lands Partners and Community Allies

PLA 2025 Convention and Trade Show connected over 650 public lands professionals for a week of networking, knowledge-sharing, and exploring public lands.