Organizations Filed Purposes:
The mission of the Balsam Mountain Trust is the stewardship of the natural and cultural resources on Balsam Mountain Preserve and the Blue Ridge Mountain region, achieved through effective land management practices, scientific research and environmental education. The Balsam Mountain Trust inspires people to be responsible stewards of the natural and cultural resources of the Southern Blue Ridge Mountains through education and conservation leadership.
The Trust has, for the duration of its existence, been vigilant in monitoring the ongoing health of the conservation easement land as well as providing conservation education to Preserve owners and the general public. What has remained as one of its priorities is to observe the integrity of the health of the natural resources on the Preserve's easement lands and to make stewardship recommendations as well as to implement certain of those recommendations. In 2020 the Trust began two new research projects: 1) a study of caterpillar food plants affected by forest tree age stand and densities of plants utilized by butterfly and moth caterpillars as food sources and 2) a study of dark fireflies (firefly species which do not produce a light). Both research projects had a 2020 start date with a completion date scheduled for the end of the field season in 2021.
The Trust continued to, as part of its mission, and to meet the public benefits of its nonprofit status, develop and present environmental education programs to thousands of student learners. Since its founding, the Trust has reached over 100,000 program participants, 3,000 of those in 2020, a reduction from 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Trust's partnership with AmeriCorps and the Conservation Trust of North Carolina continued its successful program presentations to schools who have a majority of students that fall under the poverty line. With the Covid-19 pandemic rendering in-classroom visits problematic, the Trust was able to create and present environmental education programming to the same underserved students in Jackson and Haywood counties in virtual vide presentations that were very well received by students and educators alike.
After undergoing a comprehensive remodel, the Nature Center reopened with new exhibits and graphic designs that have been very well received by the public. And even though the Covid-19 pandemic precluded the building reopening on the inside, the outdoor, living ambassador exhibits saw many visitors still interested in learning about the wonders of the natural worlds through socially-distanced programming on site.
Executives Listed on Filing
Total Salary includes financial earnings, benefits, and all related organization earnings listed on tax filing
| Name | Title | Hours Per Week | Total Salary |
|---|
| Michael Skinner | Executive Director | 40 | $73,288 |
| Kathy Nervie | Trustee | 0 | $0 |
| Chip Shuppert | Trustee | 0 | $0 |
| Rob Colton | Trustee | 0 | $0 |
| Louise Sparks | Trustee | 0 | $0 |
| Stephen Barnett | Trustee | 0 | $0 |
| Sheri Straw | Secretary | 0 | $0 |
| Jan Kohl | Treasurer | 0 | $0 |
| Sabrina Watkins | Chair | 0 | $0 |
Data for this page was sourced from XML published by IRS (
public 990 form dataset) from:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/irs-form-990/202111349349305116_public.xml