Island Press

What it reported doing in 2025

Research and publicationisland press publishes and promotes science-based solutions that help people make a positive difference for the environment. In 2025, island press published 27 new titles, sold 104,142 units, and distributed 3,454 free copies. Among these were: the twilight forest: an elegy for ponderosa in a changing west (october 2025), by gary ferguson. The twilight forest is a life-affirming portrait of the ponderosa pine forests of the american southwest, where more than 200 million trees have died in the past decade and scientists project fewer than 5% may survive in the region by mid-century. Ferguson weaves natural and human history with unflinching attention to wildfire and climate change as forces that have transformed a once-thriving ecosystem. The book received over 100 media hits, including a recent op-ed in the New York times ("a water doom loop is coming"). Poisoning the well: how forever chemicals contaminated america (april 2025) by sharon udasin and rachel franzin, is the shocking true-life story of how pfasa set of toxic chemicals most people have never heard ofpoisoned the entire country. Drawing on ground-level reporting in four heavily contaminated towns and internal industry documents, the book makes the case that corporate manufacturers may have known about the deadly risks of their products since the 1960s while regulators repeatedly failed to act. But alongside the outrage is an equally powerful story of resilience: ordinary people, fighting for their own survival, who took on a broken system and pushed for accountability. The book was influential enough to be selected for paperback reprinting in 2027 by princeton university press. The hype about hydrogen, revised edition: false promises and real solutions in the race to save the climate (april 2025) by joseph j. Romm, builds on the author's 2003 explainer on why hydrogen isn't the clean energy panacea we were promised. The journal of environmental studies and sciences says of the hype about hydrogen: "this book should be of particular interest to anyone wanting to explore alternative energy sources to move away from fossil fuels. It provides comprehensive information about problems with hydrogen, including many references for further information."New York's secret subway: the underground genius of alfred beach and the origins of mass transit (september 2025) by matthew algeo is a richly illustrated gilded age drama populated with larger-than-life characters. The book tells the remarkable true story of alfred beach, the visionary inventor who secretly constructed america's first operational subway beneath broadway in the nineteenth century. Beach's audacious engineering feat put him on a collision course with william "boss" tweed, the corrupt tammany hall power broker whose political machinery protected the entrenched horse-car industry. A review by publisher's weekly said, "[an] engrossing chronicle... An immersive view of 1860s New York as a hotbed of innovation and corruption."

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 82.3%; rating input score 82
• Fundraising efficiency: $0.88 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
• Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -109.3%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.35; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.56; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 17.8%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: -1.4% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -4.3% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: -5% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings