New Mexico · Nonprofit
PUBLIC LANDS INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION
PUBLIC LANDS INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION (New Mexico) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $30,500 to it, the largest being NATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION ($13,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.0M
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $31k
- Net assets
- $282k
What Public Lands Interpretive Association does
Mission
The work of the Public Lands Interpretive Association is facilitated through cooperative agreements with the usda forest service, the bureau of land management and a special use permit with the usda forest service.activities are accomplished through the operation of bookstores in federal visitor centers in new mexico and arizona, an active public lands recreation information based website, www.publiclands.org, operation of the nm public lands information center in santa fe, nm, and by operating and providing all interpretive services for three campgrounds on the williams ranger district of the kaibab national forest in arizona.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
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…
$724,861 spent$551,909 earned by the program51% of program spendingPlia 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…
$656,846 spent$500,122 earned by the program46% of program spendingPublicationsplia's publishing program focuses on publications that are important to the public understanding and use of public lands and that area not available through other sources. Plia's most significant book in terms of numbers published is ducks at a distance: a water fowl identification guide, which was originally published by the us fish and wildlife service the publication of this valuable resource, for water fowl identification, was taken over by plia, at the request of the us fish and wildlife service, in 1985.plia has published guides to the rio grande, dolores and chama rivers, guides to bosque del apache and wichita mountains wildlife refuges, the lincoln, coconino, kaibab national forests and the santa fe national forest and pecos wilderness.plia produced a series of six recreational maps to new mexico. The maps have proven to be very popular and confirm that there indeed is a need for maps with detailed and extensive information on public lands recreational opportunities available in the state both by location on the map as well as through the interpretive information included in the narrative.websitethe website www.publiclands.org was designed and is maintained by…
$20,938 spent$15,942 earned by the program1% of program spendingOther program services 4: 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.
$16,204 spent$12,338 earned by the program1% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,418,849.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $554k to $795k (+44%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2019 4% · 2020 4% · 2021 5% · 2022 17% · 2023 20% · 2024 24%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
24% of PUBLIC LANDS INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 7 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Board chair
Kaline Carter
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
1 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 25% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of PUBLIC LANDS INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
PUBLIC LANDS INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 43% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
100% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund PUBLIC LANDS INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
PUBLIC LANDS INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside New Mexico, across 2 states in all.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $8k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
PUBLIC LANDS INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION's revenue grew 43% between 2017 and 2024.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding PUBLIC LANDS INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.8M on record.
- Department of the Interior$1.4M
- Department of Agriculture$435k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like PUBLIC LANDS INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In New Mexico
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
63% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for PUBLIC LANDS INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds PUBLIC LANDS INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION?
- PUBLIC LANDS INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION (New Mexico) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $30,500 to it, the largest being NATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION ($13,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does PUBLIC LANDS INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $30,500 in grants to PUBLIC LANDS INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION.
- Who is the largest funder of PUBLIC LANDS INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION?
- NATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $13,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PUBLIC LANDS INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New Mexico. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 3 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing