Utah Open Lands
Legal name: Utah Open Lands Conservation Association Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 870480542
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Salt Lake City, UT, US
- Phone
- (801) 463-6156
- Rating
- 71
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Land Resources Conservation
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $11,369,279
- Expenses
- $937,401
- Assets
- $22,608,738
- Liabilities
- $61,748
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Wendy Fisher (Executive Director)
- Wendy Zeigler (Past President)
- Kate Ferguson (President)
- Nancy McLaughlin (Vice President)
- Matt Steward (Past President)
Highest reported compensation
- Wendy Fisher (Executive Director): $119,165 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To preserve, protect and steward open space in order to maintain Utah’s natural heritage and quality of life for present and future generations.
What it reported doing in 2024
LAND CONSERVATION: From community backed protection campaigns to critical habitat for species of greatest concern, Utah Open Lands crafted conservation easements to ensure land protection on incredible resource lands, community open spaces and lands of ecological significance. Ongoing negotiations include land that surrounds the Great Salt Lake and the wetlands that sustain the Lake, landscapes that buffer our national defense at Camp Williams as well as provide community trails, open space and agricultural lands and lands adjacent to stunning landscapes that capture state, international and national visitors. Four projects were finalized this reporting period and the organizations is continuing the consideration, investigation, discussion and negotiation on more than 20 projects. The Beard Family conservation easement include a rare and valuable ecosystem value called a fen. This nutrient rich, peat like wetland provides multiple ecosystem services and on the Beard Family conservation easement the fens are protected along with multiple natural springs that flow directly to Willard Bay. Close to Utah Lake, lands surrounding Camp Williams are considered part of the West Traverse Sentinel Landscape. This Sentinel Landscape Designation is part of a concerted effort to buffer Camp Williams and its role in the readiness of our National Defense by protecting lands that contain wildlife habitat, working agricultural lands, scenic viewsheds and public trail system opportunities. As Utah Open Lands continues to work with the officers at Camp Williams and the landowners in the area we completed three conservation easements with our partner the Conservation Fund and Utah Open Lands as grantee will defend and steward these conservation easements in perpetuity.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 93% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 43
- Transparency & Controls: 87
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 88
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 11.1%; rating input score 11
- Program expense ratio: 81.8%; rating input score 82
- Fundraising efficiency: $163.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 20th 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; 66th 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: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 91.8%; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 24.12; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 12.7%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -29.2% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 31.2% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 19.4% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 11.1% of revenue deployed · 81.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $767K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $119K · 16 people listed
- Consistency: 47 of 48 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 11/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.