Golden State Natural Resources

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
843072319
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Sacramento, CA, USA
Phone
9164474806
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Forest Conservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$32,725
Expenses
$1,917,227
Assets
$2,554,029
Liabilities
$12,263,689

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CRAIG FERGUSON (VICE PRESIDENT/SECRETARY)
  • PATRICK BLACKLOCK (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • PATRICK BLACKLOCK (PRESIDENT/CEO): $524,824 total reported compensation
  • CRAIG FERGUSON (VICE PRESIDENT/SECRETARY): $511,402 total reported compensation
  • MILENA DE MELO (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $307,217 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Gsnr was created to research and develop potential strategies to enhance forest health & resiliency and lessen the intensity of catastrophic wildfires occurring in California. More specifically it was organized exclusively for the purpose of promoting public safety, forest resiliency, wildfire risk reduction, air quality improvement, organic waste reduction, rural economic development, and public purposes thereto.

What it reported doing in 2024

Gsnr is currently in the mature phase of pre-development of operations. It is anticipated that future operations will include the removal of excess biomass from forests. The original draft environmental impact report (deir) proposed that this biomass be converted into industrial pellets and was released for public review in october 2024. Most of the expenses incurred during the year relate to the completion of the deir.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 98% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 11
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 98.8%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -5,758.6%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.33; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 4.8; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.8%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 22.2% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 39% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 98.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $525K · 8 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $1.1M reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 6 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.