Public Lands Interpretive Association (PLIA)

Plia is invited to operate bookstores by land management agencies to help fulfill their mandate to educate the Public about the Lands managed by these agencies. All items sold by plia in these site specific sales areas are selected for their Interpretive and educational value, are reviewed and approved by the appropriate land management agency, fall within select categories of subject matter related to and appropriate for each individual area and differ from area to area.in addition to operating sales areas in federal visitor centers and providing staffing necessary to operate the store and giving information to the Public on the agencies behalf, plia provides additional services such as:1. Selling annual agency and Public Lands passes2. Training agency front desk personnel in customer service and Public Lands information resources3. Funding appropriate agency educational and Interpretive projects including: a. Providing buses to get mid-school and high school students onto Public Lands for a variety of educational programing b. Funding stipends for an educational lecture series celebrating the 50th anniversary of the wild and scenic rivers act and the national trails system act c. supplying materials for classroom programs on the leave no trace land use program d. supporting the recognition of volunteers assisting in various visitor centers.

By selling recreation passes at bookstores or online, plia provides a service to the Public who must have the passes to recreate on Public Lands.

Campgroundsplia operates three campgrounds for the usda forest service on the williams ranger district of the kaibab national forest in williams, Arizona. By operating these campgrounds plia supports its mission to provide information about all aspects of the kaibab national forest in particular and america's Public Lands in general and also to offer safe and secure environment for camping.in addition to hiring the managers and staff to operate three campgrounds plia also funds an Interpretive specialist position to plan, manage and implement Interpretive and educational programming for the visiting Public. These programs are presented by the Interpretive specialist and other guest speakers and are given free of charge during the summer camping season. The programs consist of:1. Evening Interpretive and educational programs,2. Guided Interpretive walks on forest trails adjacent to the campgrounds3. Citizen science opportunities presented by the Interpretive specialist and selected guest speakers4. Discovery tables with information on the animals, trees, flowers, and other subjects.5. Interactive programming for all ages but most specifically targeted to children and youth.in an effort to reach the visiting Public in the off-season plia has also funded the construction of Interpretive panels, kiosks, self-guided trails and accompanying brochure and checklists for the flora, fauna, reptiles and birds that can be accessed in the campgrounds and are also available at the nearby forest service offices in williams, Arizona.