Wild Earth Society Incorporated

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
161402497
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Phone
3852294849
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Printing, Publishing

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,066,055
Expenses
$3,861,046
Assets
$3,692,457
Liabilities
$167,890

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Conrad Reining (President)
  • Fred Koontz (Vice President)
  • Katie Davis (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Tim Noviello (Comms Director): $127,062 total reported compensation
  • Erin Sito (US Public Policy Director): $121,178 total reported compensation
  • Katie Davis (Executive Director): $120,709 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Wildlands Network works to reconnect, restore and rewild North America so that life-in all its diversity-can thrive.

What it reported doing in 2025

Western Wildway: In collaboration with our partners and volunteers, we removed and modified wire from 12.3 miles of prioritized fence lines within the winter range of the Paunsaugunt mule deer herd in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and surveyed approximately 30 miles of fence on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. The surveys assess which fences are acting as barriers to wildlife movement, specifically for the pronghorn that inhabit the valley. In partnership with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and Sageland Collaborative, we developed guidelines for using DWR's fence mapping app that helps identify and prioritize fences for improvement across the state. We captured a mountain lion crossing through one of the large border wall openings that were opened as a result of the 2023 border wall settlement. We published new research confirming a devastating truth: the U.S.-Mexico border wall is reducing wildlife movement by 86%. Our work was featured in "Nature Divided," a documentary following our Borderlands Program Coordinator, Myles Traphagen, as he documents both the damage and the growing promise of reconnecting cross-border habitat. We led the legislative campaign in New Mexico that secured a record $50 million investment in the Wildlife Corridors fund, the largest single appropriation ever dedicated to terrestrial wildlife crossings in the country.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 78% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 50
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.3%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 81.1%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $79.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 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: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.96; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.6%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.3% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.3% of revenue deployed · 81.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $127K · 20 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $239K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 37 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.