2021-03-23T11:33:21-07:00 2020-09-30 030354347 Grippin Donlan & Pinkham PLC 3 Baldwin Avenue South Burlington VT 05403 990 2019-10-01 030307155 Friends of Stowe Conservation Inc DBA Stowe Land Trust STOW 8022537221 PO Box 284 Stowe VT 05672 Kristen Sharpless Executive Director 2021-03-23 true David C Grippin CPA P00040840 8028462000 X 2019 2022-09-23 18:48:47Z Walter Frame PO BOX 284 Stowe VT 05672 1043805 false X www.stowelandtrust.org X 1987 VT The Stowe Land Trust is dedicated to the conservation of scenic, recreational, and productive farm and forest lands for the benefit of the greater Stowe community. 20 20 3 56 0 6705201 403440 0 141884 98030 38509 24677 6885594 526147 0 0 190195 183358 0 49660 5782674 483987 5972869 667345 912725 -141198 4621132 4487048 34192 58947 4586940 4428101 The Stowe Land Trust is dedicated to the conservation of scenic, recreational, and productive farm and forest lands for the benefit of the greater Stowe community. false false 506896 StewardshipIn 2020, Stowe Land Trust (SLT) continued efforts with partners at Cady Hill Forest to control non-native, invasive Japanese barberry. A $5,000 grant paid for a professional crew to continue pulling plants and SLT staff time to coordinate the project. At Joes Pond, $1,500 donation paid for a dock that was installed in order to improve public access to the water.The Stowe Land Trust also completed several land management projects on SLT-owned properties. At the Mill Trail, the 2019 Halloween storm caused enough damage to require replacement of a culvert under the parking lot. This project, including resurfacing the parking lot and improving the access gate, was completed in 2020.The remainder of the Spruce Peak Realty sponsorship was used to cover stewardship program staff time. SLT updated and replaced interpretive signs and created a trail map and guide for DuMont Meadow. In 2019, the Canadian Friends of Stowe Land Trust granted $20,000 to SLT to support public access and recreation improvements at Brownsville-Story Ridge Forest. Over the past year, $2,325.00 was spent on having the meadow mowed and purchasing property signs and two trail counters. The balance of $17,675 will be spent on upcoming recreation projects in partnership with the State of Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation and the Stowe Trails Partnership. Outreach and EducationSLT ramped up its social media outreach in March in response to the pandemic and stay-at-home order, and we have seen an increase in interaction and comments on our posts over the summer and fall. When schools closed in March, our Summer Naturalist, a VHCB AmeriCorps Member, chose to end her service early at the end of April and summer in-person programming and events were cancelled due to the pandemic. $1,616.39 of a $6,000 grant from Vails EpicPromise Program was spent in direct support of the Summer Natural Program and the balance helped to cover general SLT outreach and education efforts this summer.In 2020, we completed a year-long Community Conservation Assessment in partnership with the Land Trust Alliance which provided $3,000 in funding to support the project. We also spent $396 of a 2017 grant provided by the Land Trust Alliance to distribute community survey to better understand how Stowe Land Trust is currently perceived.Land Protection Projects On of our partners in the Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor (SHWC), Vermont Land Trust, successfully closed on the Blauvelt Forest conservation easement bargain sale in 2020. SLT released $100,000 to Vermont Land Trust for the project from funds donated to SLT through the SHWC catalyst campaign a joint fundraising effort between Stowe Land Trust, Vermont Land Trust, and The Nature Conservancy. With the completion of this new conservation project, the partnership has protected more than 500 acres in the corridor since 2018. The Nature Conservancy released $3,810 to Stowe Land Trust from their funds received through the catalyst campaign for SLT staff time spent coordinating conservation efforts within the wildlife corridor.The Hunger Mountain Headwaters Project, a multi-year collaboration between Stowe Land Trust and the Trust for Public Land, was completed in March 2020 when the +/- 1800-acre Patterson Brook parcel in Middlesex and Worcester was transferred from the Trust for Public Land to the State of Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. SLT released $137,125 to the Trust for Public Land for project costs and $109,479 to the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation for a stewardship endowment for the long-term care of the parcel and a 109-acre parcel in Stowe included in the project that was purchased by the Trust for Public Land and transferred to the State of Vermont in December 2019.In 2020, Stowe Land Trust raised $11,380 to help the Vermont Land Trust purchase a conservation easement on the Valcour-Hursh Farm in Morristown and to make the property affordable for the next generation of farmers. Vermont Land Trust anticipates closing on the project in early 2021.GeneralStowe Land Trust received and spent a $23,800 Payroll Protection Program Loan and $3000 EIDL grant in 2020 for payroll costs. 506896 true true false false false false true false false true true false false false true true false false false false false false false false true false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false true 8 0 true 3 true false false false false false false false 0 false false false false false false false X 20 20 false false false false true true false true true false false true true true true true true true true false X Kristen Sharpless 8022537221 6 Sunset Street Stowe VT 05672 Kristen Sharpless Executive Dir. 20.00 0.00 X 77561 0 0 Clifford Borden Director 1.50 0.00 X 0 0 0 Chess Brownell Director 1.50 0.00 X 0 0 0 Doren Dolan Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Catherine Drake Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Amy Stewart Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Sam Gaines Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Jesse Goldfine Director 3.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Kerry Sedutto Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Beth Bradford Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Tom Jackman Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Jed Lipsky Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Mila Lonetto Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Walter Looney Director 1.50 0.00 X 0 0 0 Darsey Moon Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Ryan Percy Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Anna Black Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Jason McLean Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Walter Frame Chairman 3.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Meg Kauffman Secretary 1.50 0.00 X 0 0 0 Dave Wilkens V Chr/Treasurer 2.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 77561 0 false false false 0 260010 2475 6000 134955 12696 403440 0 69193 69193 0 0 0 544209 515372 28837 28837 28837 26140 2475 763 25377 0 823 1523 -700 -700 0 526147 28837 68493 0 0 0 0 71651 32639 28613 10399 0 86442 39377 34519 12546 0 13112 5973 5236 1903 12153 5536 4853 1764 0 0 19501 8883 7788 2830 0 0 0 6796 955 837 5004 11732 6486 498 4748 2376 1082 949 345 8836 4025 3529 1282 0 24351 11093 9724 3534 2385 1087 952 346 0 0 0 0 4591 4591 9927 4522 3964 1441 Land project 355354 355354 Stewardship 8817 8817 Licenses and fees 8216 3743 3281 1192 Easement acquisition 5500 5500 15605 7233 6046 2326 667345 506896 110789 49660 137486 115240 1184984 554148 12500 21000 0 0 0 0 0 9430 7755 2242359 21961 2220489 2220398 1056243 1568507 0 0 0 0 4621132 4487048 27130 35147 7062 23800 34192 58947 X 1131740 1248572 3455200 3179529 4586940 4428101 4621132 4487048 -141198 -17641 X true X true X true false X 487601 511953 588036 6705201 403440 8696231 0 0 487601 511953 588036 6705201 403440 8696231 0 8696231 35251 28807 44552 133747 69271 311628 0 10190 13475 12883 13392 823 50763 9058622 0.96000 0.96250 X RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED X X X 33 40 1 true 55 11612 false 721803 229838 -8086 943555 620353 83826 17624 721803 553676 57000 9677 620353 444250 74521 34905 553676 345852 71459 26939 444250 0.10500 0.04900 0.84600 false false false 2125040 2125040 85733 12713 73020 2049 1298 751 29537 7950 21587 2220398 PPP Loan 23800 23800 X Part II, Line 5: Summarized Policy Monitoring is the regular and systematic gathering of information about a conserved property to detect changes and to ensure the property is being used in accordance with the legal restrictions placed on it. SLT monitors land that it owns in fee as well as those on which it holds legal rights through a conservation easement or other legal covenant. All SLT conserved properties are monitored at least once annually in person on the ground.Stowe Land Trust is responsible for enforcing all of its conservation easements through identification and rectification of violations. Regular communication with landowners and diligent annual monitoring can result in minimizing violations and help to resolve enforcement issues in a timely manner. Part II, Line 9: Organization Reporting of conservation easements. The Stowe Land Trust acquires easements and development rights on property through purchase and donation. Within the conservancy movement, a divergence of practice exists as to the values at which easements and development rights are appropriately recorded. The smaller, locally based conservancy organizations tend toward not capitalizing such acquisitions. The Stowe Land Trust has adopted this policy of not capitalizing as assets the acquisition of easements and development rights, but rather discloses them in the footnotes to the financial statements. Part V, Line 4: Intended uses of the endowment fund. The endowment funds are held for long-term growth with the intent to generate on-going income or reserves. The goals of the investment policy are to have sufficient cash resources to meet current spending needs and maintain a positive return on assets held for longer term goals. Part X : FIN48 Footnote The Land Trust is a not-for-profit organization that is exempt from income taxes under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and classified by the Internal Revenue Service as other than a private foundation. The Land Trust is subject to a tax on income from any unrelated business income.The Land Trust has analyzed tax positions taken on its tax returns and believes that all tax positions will be sustained upon examination and does not anticipate any adjustments that would result in a material adverse affect on the Land Trust's financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Accordingly, the Land Trust has not recorded any reserves, or related accruals for interest and penalties for uncertain income tax positions at September 30, 2020. false Golf Fundraiser 28615 2475 26140 763 28615 2475 26140 763 763 25377 Form 990, Part VI, Line 6: Explanation of Classes of Members or Shareholder Any person, family or business organization shall be entitled to membership in the corporation upon the payment of annual dues. There shall be, at a minimum, three classes of membership: (I) Individual; (II) Family, which shall consist of individuals who are related by blood or marriage and who are living in the same household and at the time of payment of dues are identified in writing to the corporation as being members of a contributor's family; (III) Business, which shall consist of a business entity, whether a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, association or other entity organized for either a profit or a non-profit purpose. The corporation shall keep a record of the names and addresses of all the member of the corporation. Form 990, Part VI, Line 11b: Form 990 Review Process Form 990 is reviewed by executive director and all board members prior to filing with the IRS. Form 990, Part VI, Line 12c: Explanation of Monitoring and Enforcement of Conflicts To ensure that the SLT operates in a manner consistent with its charitable purposes and that it does not engage in activities that could jeopardize its status as an organization exempt from federal income tax, periodic reviews of compliance with this policy and disclosure requirements shall be reviewed by the executive committee and approved by the board of directors. Form 990, Part VI, Line 15a: Compensation Review & Approval Process - CEO, Top Management The Stowe Land Trust's process for determining compensation for the executive director includes a review and approval by independent persons, comparability data, and contemporaneous substantiation of the deliberation and decision. Form 990, Part VI, Line 15b: Compensation Review and Approval Process for Officers and Key Employees Stowe Land Trust's process for determining compensation for key employees includes a review and approval by independent persons and comparability data. Form 990, Part VI, Line 19: Other Organization Documents Publicly Available The Stowe Land Trust makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public upon request.