Natural Curiosity Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
To advance conservation through research, experiential outdoor education, and wilderness stewardship. We plan to accomplish this by engaging people with nature and giving them the knowledge, skills, and confidence to do conservation work and recreate in nature.
- Income
- $1.1 million
- Spending
- $689,041
- Spent on programs
- 73%
- Reserves
- -0.7 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 37%
- Employees
- 17
- Volunteers
- 5
- Highest pay
- $29,050, ceo
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Fair: 60 out of 100. Higher than 23% of charities in its peer group (environment, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
0 of 35Spendable reserves are negative: it owes or has committed more than it holds.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 37% of income.
Income trend
10 of 15Income fell 4% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1573% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 4 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Fair: 55 out of 100. Higher than 6% of charities in its peer group (environment, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 257 of 9 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
0 of 8Reports no written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
0 of 7Reports no written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
0 of 10Did not give the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
0 of 5Reports no independent review process for its chief executive's pay.
Independent check of accounts
0 of 15Its accounts were not audited or reviewed by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (4)
- $233,720 spent. Outdoor Education: Natural Curiosity provided field-based outdoor education to youth and adults with four distinct programs in 2025. Supported by a New Mexico Outdoor Equity Fund grant, we hosted a free two-week summer day camp at our Animas Campus for 26 local youth in Sierra County, divided into two age groups (10-12 and 13-15), and supported by two student camp interns aged 16-18 who were hired to assist with programming. Campers received meals and all necessary outdoor gear while learning hiking, orienteering, wildlife identification, and outdoor safety, including a field trip to Ladder Ranch to learn about regional conservation projects and instruction on ecological challenges facing the area, including wildfire risk and long-term drought. In partnership with the Western Institute of Lifelong Learning (WILL) at Western New Mexico University, 10 adult participants completed a weekend field course on mountain lion ecology and management at the Hermosa Field Station, including lectures, tracking, and a visit to an active puma kill site. We also hosted Outdoorsy Women Learning Survival Skills (OWLS), a week-long Introduction to Backpacking program led by wilderness educator Jessie Krebs for 6 women, based at our Hermosa Field Station with backcountry camping on adjacent Gila National Forest land and instruction in navigation, fire building, camp craft, and wilderness safety skills. In May 2025, 12 students completed Wilderness MayX, a three-week May-mester program focused on wilderness recreation, work, and stewardship skills in the American West, also based at our Hermosa Field Station. In Fall 2025, 10 undergraduate university students completed the Wild Semester, a full-semester study away program in partnership with Furman University based at our Hermosa Field Station. Students completed 4 biology courses - Field Zoology, Conservation Biology, Field Ecology, and African Biodiversity and Conservation - while gaining hands-on experience in wilderness skills, horse and mule packing, radio telemetry, remote camera operation, and animal chemical immobilization through our active Mountain Lion research program. The semester concluded with a three-week international field experience in South Africa. All students were certified in Wilderness First Aid and USFS Crosscut Saw use.
- $14,710 spent. Conservation Research: Natural Curiosity conducted field-based wildlife research and conservation partnerships across multiple projects in 2025. Our ongoing Mountain Lion Research Program in the Gila National Forest and surrounding private lands continued. The program also hosted 1 undergraduate summer research student at our Hermosa Field Station, who pursued an independent research question, collected and analyzed data, wrote a scientific report, and presented their findings as a poster at a professional scientific meeting. We continued making upgrades to PhotoGoFer, a proprietary remote camera photo data management and capture software that supports wildlife conservation and management. We were able to provide a working version of the software to undergraduate students at Furman University to use as part of a series of biology labs about wildlife conservation research techniques. Additionally, we provided the PhotoGoFer software and training to several colleagues and students we're collaborating with in South Africa on conservation research projects. In 2025, we continued our multi-year contract with Bat Conservation International to survey and document Penstemon metcalfei populations in the Gila National Forest. Rather than establishing new plots, we focused 2025 fieldwork on revisiting P. metcalfei clusters previously identified along Rattlesnake Canyon and counting all plants present (flowering and non-flowering) for comparison against 2024 baseline data; a statistical comparison found no significant change in plant abundance between the two years. We also engaged Underwing Biological, LLC and a Western New Mexico University wildlife biology student, who used the 2024 field survey data and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) habitat modeling to build a predictive habitat suitability model for P. metcalfei across the Black Range District of the Gila National Forest. The resulting map identifies areas with a high probability of suitable, unsurveyed habitat, which will guide prioritization of future survey efforts and inform the U.S. Forest Service's conservation planning for this state-endangered species. The student completed this work through a supervised undergraduate practicum with Natural Curiosity, mentored by Travis Perry.
- $166,777 spent. Wilderness Stewardship: In 2025, Natural Curiosity continued work under agreements with the US Forest Service and National Forest Foundation to restore deferred maintenance trails badly damaged by the 2022 Black Fire (>300K acres) and subsequent flooding. These trails, all within the Gila National Forest and Aldo Leopold Wilderness, help to preserve public access to federally held public lands and -when maintained- reduce human impact to the landscape and preserve watershed health alongside safe recreation. The organization facilitated over 96 volunteer hours alongside over 3,126 hours of paid on-the-ground (non-administrative) work and 11 partner trail-work hitches, culminating in improvements on over 17 miles of trail. Throughout the year a total of 42 staff, contractors, students, partners, and volunteers were able contribute to improved trail conditions while building their own Wilderness Stewardship skills. Collaborations with the United States Forest Service, Cottonwood Gulch, Outslope Trail Solutions, and Conservation Corps New Mexico all supported a model of increasing personal development, training, and skill-building for those who worked with Natural Curiosity to improve trails within their Scope of Work. Most notably, Natural Curiosity was able to add 44 certified crosscut sawyers to the Gila National Forest's ranks, once again building capacity for badly-needed post-fire trail work in the region.
- $88,784 spent. General program expenses not assigned to a specific program
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since March 2022.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.