Five Valleys Land Trust

What it reported doing in 2025

The Organization operated the following programs during the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024: Land Protection: The Organization protects lands relevant to its mission using fee acquisitions, voluntary conservation easements, and other real property interests. The organization works with private landowners to protect open space on private lands and partners with government entities to protect or create public open space. Conservation easement grantors enter into agreements with the Organization voluntarily and knowing their land holds special value to them and to the public. Conservation easements held by the Organization hold no marketable financial value and are a non-possessory interest in real property, so the landowner retains ownership of the land, subject to the terms of the conservation easement. The costs to acquire purchased or donated easements are expensed as incurred. The Organization recognizes in-kind contributions that represent the diminution in value of the property at the time of the grant of the conservation easement resulting from the restrictions that the easement imposes on the use of the land. The Organization only recognizes in-kind contributions in this way if there is an appraisal to inform the value. The value of in-kind conservation easement contributions for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, was $1,212,500 and $0 respectively.Stewardship: Since its inception, the Organization has identified opportunities to convert privately held lands into public lands over several areas in western Montana. Examples of these projects include the Alberton Gorge, Hiawatha Route, Mount Jumbo, Mount Sentinel, and the Rattlesnake Greenway. During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Organization sold and transferred approximately 160 acres on Marshall Mountain to Missoula County.The Organizations stewardship staff works with public and private partners to conserve, steward, and improve protected lands that it owns for conservation purposes. The organization enlists a broad group of partners to complete this work, including students, volunteers, and contractors. The organization continued weed treatment, habitat restoration, fuels reduction, public access development and othersimilar activities on the Mount Dean Stone, Rock Creek Confluence, and other properties throughout its service area. Perpetual conservation easements that the organization holds commit the organization to a long-term responsibility of stewarding the protected conservation values of the conserved properties for public benefit and supporting landowners in their efforts to manage their land with conservation in mind. Stewardship work involves monitoring conservation easement properties, ensuring conservation easement terms are upheld, visiting with landowners at least annually to listen to their concern and working with landowners to help them meet their land management goals or otherwise use their properties in a manner consistent with the terms of the conservation easements.As of December 31, 2025, the Organization held a total of 200 conservation easements protecting a combined 84,391 acres of land. In the year ending December 31, 2024, the Organization held a total of 198 conservation easements protecting a combined 83,397 acres of land. Included in the 2025 land protection figures, the Organization accepted a gift of real property in fee near Lincoln, Montana, in the year ending December 31, 2024. After accepting the gift of property, the property was protected with a conservation easement that the Organization retained before disposition of the property to a private party, subject to the conservation easement, in the year ending December 31, 2025.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 92.2%; rating input score 92
• Program expense ratio: 86.3%; rating input score 86
• Fundraising efficiency: $12.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -2.5%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.42; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 3.3%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings