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← SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN HIGHLANDS CONSERVANCY

Form 990 for tax year 2023

Filed by SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN HIGHLANDS CONSERVANCY.

Totals

Total revenue
$47,982,742
Total expenses
$4,225,803
Contributions and grants received
$47,063,165
Grants paid
$182,463
Program service revenue
$39,190
Investment income
$722,180
Other revenue
$158,207
Total assets, end of year
$125,041,070
Total liabilities, end of year
$1,438,705
Net assets or fund balances, end of year
$123,602,365
Program services expenses (Part IX)
$3,798,563
Management and general expenses
$298,744
Fundraising expenses
$128,496
Program service expenses (Part III)
$3,798,563

Program services were 89.9% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Revenue

Part VIII, the statement of revenue.

  • 1c · Fundraising events

    $7,356

  • 1e · Government grants (contributions)

    $370,411

  • 1f · All other contributions, gifts and grants

    $46,685,398

  • 1g · Noncash contributions included above

    $39,111,724

  • 2a · Program service revenue: Mitigation Credits Earned

    total $16,830 · unrelated business $0 · excluded $0

  • 2b · Program service revenue: Monitoring Contracts

    total $22,060 · unrelated business $0 · excluded $0

  • 2c · Program service revenue: Workshop

    total $300 · unrelated business $0 · excluded $0

  • 3 · Investment income

    total $335,044 · unrelated business $0 · excluded $335,044

  • 6a · Gross rents

    real property $116,846

  • 6b · Less rental expenses

    real property $0

  • 6c · Rental income or loss

    real property $116,846

  • 6d · Net rental income or loss

    total $116,846 · unrelated business $91,412 · excluded $25,434

  • 7a · Gross sales of assets other than inventory

    securities $387,136

  • 7c · Gain or loss

    securities $387,136

  • 7d · Net gain or loss

    total $387,136 · related or exempt $0 · unrelated business $0 · excluded $387,136

  • 8a · Fundraising events: contributions included on line 1c

    $7,356

  • 10a · Gross sales of inventory

    $1,724

  • 10b · Cost of goods sold

    $4,800

  • 10c · Net income from sales of inventory

    total -$3,076 · excluded -$3,076

  • 11a · Other revenue: Other Income

    total $8,198 · related or exempt $8,198 · unrelated business $0 · excluded $0

  • 11b · Other revenue: Present Value Discount Amortization

    total $36,239 · related or exempt $36,239 · unrelated business $0 · excluded $0

  • 11e · Other revenue, total

    $44,437

Functional expenses

Part IX, the statement of functional expenses.

  • 1 · Grants to domestic organizations and governments

    total $182,463 · program services $182,463

  • 5 · Compensation of officers, directors and key employees

    total $337,156 · program services $272,698 · management and general $32,229 · fundraising $32,229

  • 7 · Other salaries and wages

    total $1,124,229 · program services $1,015,524 · management and general $60,845 · fundraising $47,860

  • 8 · Pension plan contributions

    total $25,165 · program services $22,198 · management and general $1,639 · fundraising $1,328

  • 9 · Other employee benefits

    total $115,833 · program services $102,156 · management and general $7,495 · fundraising $6,182

  • 10 · Payroll taxes

    total $105,272 · program services $92,802 · management and general $6,715 · fundraising $5,755

  • 11b · Fees: legal

    total $57,261 · program services $57,191 · management and general $70 · fundraising $0

  • 11c · Fees: accounting

    total $23,455 · program services $0 · management and general $23,455 · fundraising $0

  • 11f · Fees: investment management

    total $72,686 · program services $0 · management and general $72,686 · fundraising $0

  • 11g · Fees: other

    total $103,683 · program services $83,683 · management and general $7,281 · fundraising $12,719

  • 12 · Advertising and promotion

    total $14,073 · program services $9,486 · management and general $4,587 · fundraising $0

  • 13 · Office expenses

    total $72,547 · program services $54,289 · management and general $13,289 · fundraising $4,969

  • 16 · Occupancy

    total $58,326 · program services $41,346 · management and general $16,871 · fundraising $109

  • 17 · Travel

    total $12,088 · program services $11,014 · management and general $537 · fundraising $537

  • 19 · Conferences, conventions and meetings

    total $14,791 · program services $10,781 · management and general $3,786 · fundraising $224

  • 22 · Depreciation, depletion and amortization

    total $157,852 · program services $144,702 · management and general $13,150 · fundraising $0

  • 23 · Insurance

    total $62,458 · program services $46,478 · management and general $15,485 · fundraising $495

  • 24a · Other expenses: Below Book Value Land Sales

    total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0

  • 24b · Other expenses: Surveys, Appraisals, ESA

    total $537,329 · program services $537,329 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0

  • 24c · Other expenses: Stewardship and Trails

    total $82,268 · program services $82,268 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0

  • 24d · Other expenses: Conservation Easement Purchases

    total $756,939 · program services $756,939 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0

  • 24e · All other expenses

    total $309,929 · program services $275,216 · management and general $18,624 · fundraising $16,089

Balance sheet

Part X, book values.

  • 1 · Cash, non-interest-bearing

    beginning of year $217,938 · end of year $100,926

  • 2 · Savings and temporary cash investments

    beginning of year $4,047,334 · end of year $4,203,019

  • 3 · Pledges and grants receivable

    beginning of year $251,260 · end of year $60,900

  • 8 · Inventories for sale or use

    beginning of year $115,720 · end of year $132,550

  • 9 · Prepaid expenses and deferred charges

    beginning of year $26,035 · end of year $26,746

  • 10a · Land, buildings and equipment: cost or other basis

    $104,813,665

  • 10b · Land, buildings and equipment: accumulated depreciation

    $1,046,173

  • 10c · Land, buildings and equipment, net

    beginning of year $63,921,176 · end of year $103,767,492

  • 11 · Investments: publicly traded securities

    beginning of year $3,375,443 · end of year $7,678,785

  • 15 · Other assets

    beginning of year $8,421,887 · end of year $9,070,652

  • 17 · Accounts payable and accrued expenses

    beginning of year $26,821 · end of year $34,385

  • 19 · Deferred revenue

    beginning of year $79,875

  • 23 · Secured mortgages and notes payable

    beginning of year $1,415,938 · end of year $1,404,320

  • 27 · Net assets without donor restrictions

    beginning of year $15,766,748 · end of year $18,616,293

  • 28 · Net assets with donor restrictions

    beginning of year $63,087,411 · end of year $104,986,072

Mission and programs · 2023

Mission

To conserve the unique plant and animal habitat, clean water, farmland, scenic beauty, and places for all people to enjoy outdoor recreation in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, enduring for future generations. Continued-see schedule O.

Activities or mission (Part I)

To conserve the unique plant and animal habitat, clean water, farmland, scenic beauty, and places for all people to enjoy outdoor recreation in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, enduring for future generations.

  • Over the past fiscal year we completed 14 major conservation transactions discussed below which protected 8,812 acres of key mountain lands. This includes 8 fee simple purchases, 5 conservation easement purchases, and 1 assist transaction. The total value of the 14 transactions was $42.5 million. Landowner donation value was $1.9 million. The purchase price of the transactions was $39 million. At times the organization purchases land below appraised value in transactions that were not planned to be bargain purchases. In this tax year that difference totaled $0.2 million.

    Expenses $3,798,563 · Grants $182,463 · Revenue $39,190

  • The $3.3 million purchase prices came in the form of private philanthropic contributions and federal and state grants. We are now working on more than 50 significant transactions, which we hope will protect another 8,000 acres in the next 12-18 months. One particular transaction included above was the 7,500 acre South Yellow Mountain Preserves. Its donated value was $36.7 million. Our Farmland Access Program supports local communities, local food production, and the long-term productive use of farmland. We work with different members of the farming community to ensure that our agricultural resources stay productive - providing local food from local farms.

  • We continue to work toward our goals to Protect and Steward land, and to advance opportunities for access to land, in order to carry out SAHCs Vision and Mission. . Our Connecting People with Nature program connects people with land for outdoor recreation, health, fitness, well-being and learning. We led 75 outings for over 1,000 people to protected places - hiking over 260 miles of trails.

As filed on the 2023 return.

Listed in Part VII

  • Carl Silverstein

    Executive Director

    Total calculated
    $169,384
    From this org
    $129,667
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $39,717
    Hours/week
    40

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $150,017
    Bonus
    $0
    Other
    $0
    Deferred
    $4,501
    Nontaxable benefits
    $14,866
    Filer's total
    $169,384

  • Kristy Urguhart

    Associate Director

    Total calculated
    $150,016
    From this org
    $119,052
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $30,964
    Hours/week
    40

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $133,033
    Bonus
    $0
    Other
    $0
    Deferred
    $3,991
    Nontaxable benefits
    $12,992
    Filer's total
    $150,016

  • Nancy Edgerton

    President

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Sheryl Aikman

    Vice President

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Pam Kelley

    Treasurer

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Tom Williams

    Secretary

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Sarah Davis

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Mary Fanslow

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Kevin Fitzgerald

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Janet Garret

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • John McLendon

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Maria Palamar

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Larry Pender

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Rich Preyer

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Chris Soto

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Allison Williams

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Answered yes

None.

Answered no

  • 4a · Severance or change-of-control payment
  • 4b · Supplemental nonqualified retirement plan
  • 4c · Equity-based compensation arrangement
  • 5a · Pay contingent on this organization's revenues
  • 5b · Pay contingent on a related organization's revenues
  • 6a · Pay contingent on this organization's net earnings
  • 6b · Pay contingent on a related organization's net earnings
  • 7 · Other non-fixed payments
  • 8 · Paid under the initial-contract exception

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

  • NC Dept of Administration

    $136,213

    Land Conservation

  • Bonesteel Films Inc

    $46,250

    George Masa documentary

Taxable family on this return

Schedule R Parts I, III and IV, as filed. These record ownership and control, not shared board members or money moved.

Disregarded entities

Part I: entities that legally are the filer and file no return of their own.

  • AFFP LLC

    Conservation Project · NC · income $105,682 · assets $2,243,310

    Directly controlled by Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy

  • SYMP LLC

    Conservation Project · NC · income $0 · assets $36,761,421

    Directly controlled by Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy

Provenance

Return type
form_990
Tax year
2023
Filed
20 February 2025
IRS schema version
2023v6.0
Source object
202510519349301436

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