New River Land Trust

What it reported doing in 2025

Each year the new river land trust, in partnership with the Virginia outdoors foundation, other state and federal government agencies, and other conservation organization, works with landowners from elliston in montgomery county west to cox's chapel in grayson county to save large tracts of land and family farms in the new river region. A conservation easement is a voluntary agreement by a landowner that protects his or her land from intensive development in perpetuity. Conservation easements protect working forest lands and vital regional water resources for human, wildlife, and aquatic species. The landowner continues to own the farmland or forest and can pursue all traditional uses of the land, such as agricultural and timbering. In exchange for protecting the land's conservation values, the owner receives generous state and federal tax incentives. In 2020, the new river land trust helped three landowners with 716 acres under conservation easements and 229 acres in fee simple conservation projects. The easements included a state funded project on extremely high value forest with notable water, natural heritage, and scenic resources in giles county. The land trust did two fee simple purchase projects in order to protect high conservation value land in montgomery county. The montgomery project was funded with grant money from the Virginia outdoors foundation's forest core fund. The land will be transferred to the town of blacksburg to become a forested nature park in 2021. The fee simple properties will be permanently protected through their transfer to the public entities. Also in 2019, the new river land trust continued to partner with local governments, regional organizations, and other stakeholders in strategic planning to identify critical lands and resources for targeted conservation outreach and education. These efforts included development of an upgraded gis system that can be used by staff and board members to quickly identify properties with important conservation values in our service area. This project continues the land trust's efforts to strategically pursue its mission. The new river land trust's work helps balance growth and development with conservation of regionally and locally important rural lands and associated resources. Since 2002, the new river land trust has worked with 274 landowners to voluntarily place more than 57,973 acres of farms, forests, open spaces, and historic places in conservation easements. This protected area includes over 27 miles along the new river, one of the fourteen american heritage rivers in the country and the only one in Virginia. The new river and its surrounding appalachian mountain landscape are defining features of the area.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 68.1%; rating input score 68
• Program expense ratio: 71.1%; rating input score 71
• Fundraising efficiency: $14.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 19.2%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.36; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 23.4%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 15.1% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings