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SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN WILDERNESS STEWARDS

EIN 47-2407669 ASHEVILLE, NC

Revenue 2024
$2,019,905
Expenses 2024
$1,715,760

Program services were 80.5% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

As filed

Subsection
03
NTEE code
C50
Classification
1200
Street
225 E CHESTNUT STREET

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Mission and programs · 2024

Mission

SAWS sets standards of excellence that inspire, connect, and equip people to steward wild public lands. SAWS provides trail maintenance, restoration, construction, ranger patrols, and disaster recovery in remote and wilderness areas; offers technical training in stewardship and crosscut saw use; and engages communities, volunteers, and the public in transformational conservation and education efforts.

Activities or mission (Part I)

SAWS exists to set standards of excellence that inspire, connect, and equip people to steward wild landscapes.

  • As we reflect on 2025, we are filled with gratitude for a year of resilience, service, and impact. Despite the challenges brought by Hurricane Helene, SAWS staff stepped up to support communities across the region while continuing to steward some of the Southeasts most treasured public lands. We are especially grateful for the steadfast partnership of the U.S. Forest Service and other collaborators who helped make this work possible. In the wake of the storm, our crews assisted with recovery efforts before returning to the backcountry to advance our conservation mission. Through difficult conditions and extensive trail damage, our team remained committed to restoring access, protecting natural resources, and serving public lands with dedication and care. 2025 was also the largest field season in SAWS history, with more than 50,000 stewardship hours completed, 35 new jobs created, over 100 miles of trail maintained, and work carried out across 31 wilderness and wild areas in six states. A new multi-year Hurricane Helene recovery partnership will help us expand year-round conservation careers, providing greater stability, benefits, and opportunities for the next generation of public lands stewards.

    Expenses $1,381,456 · Revenue $1,699,017

  • Organization Wide Programmatic Work by the Numbers: 51,267 Stewardship Hours 35 New Job Created 121 Crosscut Saw Certification Awarded 31 Wilderness Areas Supported 13 Training Events 27 Volunteer Events 9 Community Outreach Events 306,113 Trail Corridor Feet Brushed 14,822 Tread Feet Maintained 5,960 New Trail Feet Constructed 2,218 Downed Trees Removed

  • 3,123 Public Visitor Contacts 331 Drains Installed and Maintained 330 Rock and Log Steps Installed 1,561 Cribbing Wall Feet Installed May 2025 Wilderness Skills Institute by the Numbers: 26 Wilderness First Aid Certifications 33 Crosscut Certifications 268 Total Participants 62 New Participants 4 National Forests, 8 Ranger Districts, 8 Partner Orgs, 12 Volunteer Orgs Represented

As filed on the 2024 return.

Officers and directors · 2024

As listed in Part VII of the 2024 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

  • Kaitlin de Varona

    Executive Director

    Total calculated
    $97,163
    From this org
    $64,618
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $32,545
    Hours/week
    40

  • Tracy Harrell

    Finance Director

    Total calculated
    $58,814
    From this org
    $52,570
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $6,244
    Hours/week
    40

  • Rebekah Morrisson

    Program Director

    Total calculated
    $61,996
    From this org
    $54,979
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $7,017
    Hours/week
    40

  • Paul Dickens

    Chair

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Chris Sporl

    Chair to Nov 2024

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Lornett Vestal

    Vice-Chair

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Nealon DeVore

    Secretary

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Bart Hawley

    Treasurer

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Aliya Naim

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.25

  • Anya Boyko

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.25

  • Josh Burt

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.25

  • Aubree Pierce

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.25

  • Lena Snyder

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.25

  • Olive Toran

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.25

  • Delie Wilkins

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.25

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. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

  • 2024
    Revenue
    $2,019,905
    Expenses
    $1,715,760
    Contributions
    $314,853
    Grants paid
    $0
  • 2023
    Revenue
    $1,216,976
    Expenses
    $1,193,208
    Contributions
    $224,067
    Grants paid
    $70,125
  • 2022
    Revenue
    $1,034,257
    Expenses
    $1,031,898
    Contributions
    $135,487
    Grants paid
    $0

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Other returns filed

  • 2021 · 990

    Revenue
    $1,236,805
    Expenses
    $1,128,261
    Assets (EOY)
    $252,577

  • 2020 · 990

    Revenue
    $1,067,088
    Expenses
    $1,043,097
    Assets (EOY)
    $134,823

  • 2019 · 990

    Revenue
    $972,676
    Expenses
    $926,471
    Assets (EOY)
    $193,183

  • 2018 · 990

    Revenue
    $935,536
    Expenses
    $1,019,904
    Assets (EOY)
    $101,805

  • 2017 · 990

    Revenue
    $1,050,975
    Expenses
    $1,083,861
    Assets (EOY)
    $200,336

  • 2016 · 990

    Revenue
    $887,156
    Expenses
    $838,394
    Assets (EOY)
    $190,851

  • 2015 · 990

    Revenue
    $637,183
    Expenses
    $638,287
    Assets (EOY)
    $138,649

  • 2014 · 990

    Revenue
    $419,263
    Expenses
    $344,510
    Assets (EOY)
    $122,825

Nonprofiteer parses Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, in a window of recent tax years. These returns are recorded from the IRS e-file index, so their figures were extracted by that index rather than read from the return here — treat them as a different source from the filings above, not as more of the same record. A dash means the index carries no figure; Form 990-T listings carry none at all.

Grants made

Where these grants went next →

Grants received

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Other IRS files

Auto-Revocation List

Not listed. The IRS publishes this list for organizations whose exemption was automatically revoked for failing to file for three consecutive years.

Publication 78

Listed as of 13 October 2026, under deductibility PC.

These are two separate IRS files on two separate schedules, shown as published and not reconciled with each other. Neither is a statement about whether a contribution is deductible today: 19,245 organizations appear in Publication 78 while the IRS's own revocation file lists them as currently revoked, more than half of those revoked before 2019. Absence from Publication 78 is evidence of nothing, and presence is not evidence either. Verify current status with the IRS before relying on it.

What this page reflects

The registration facts above come from the IRS Business Master File published 13 October 2026 and read 29 October 2026, for every organization at once. Returns through tax year 2024, the newest we have parsed for this organization.