Stillwater Valley Watershed Council
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Stillwater Valley Watershed Council SVWC will provide an open forum in which all interested parties may work in a collaborative effort to preservie the integrity of the river, the land, an the beauty of our valley. We will endeavor to bring together public, private and government resources, funding and grants to achieve our goals.
- Income
- $602,086
- Spending
- $567,200
- Spent on programs
- 94%
- Reserves
- 7.7 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- government grants, 77%
- Employees
- 0
- Volunteers
- 50
- Highest pay
- $40,400, coordinator
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Strong: 93 out of 100. Higher than 72% of charities in its peer group (environment, $250k to $1m).
Reserves
28 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 7.7 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 6% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 135% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1594% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Good: 76 out of 100. Higher than 46% of charities in its peer group (environment, $250k to $1m).
Independent board
25 of 2512 of 12 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
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
6 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, 2024, 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 (5)
- $379,148 spent. HAZARDOUS FUELS PROGRAM This program provides homeowner with cost-share assistance for fuels reduction projects, prevention and mitigation materials regarding wildfire. Tallies for 2024 Completed hazardous fuel mitigation projects on 11 properties, encompassing over 8,000 acres. Improved the wildfire resiliency on 450 acres through prescriptive tree thinning practices. Awarded cost-share directly to 11 participants in the amount of 208,012 and paid contractors directly on behalf of landowners 153,067. Hosted the inaugural Home Hardening Workshop with FireSafe Stillwater affiliates 50 attendees.
- $60,379 spent. WILDLIFE HABITAT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM WHIP GRANT. This is a 7-year project secured in 2019 and the mission encompasses treatment and monitoring of noxious weeds with Custer-Gallatin National Forest, preventing further spread of noxious weed throughout the Stillwater watershed. This project will enhance cooperative efforts of the US Forest Service USFS along with adjacent small and large tract landowners. Why is a non-profit group assisting the USFS in their noxious weed control efforts The budget line item for noxious weed control for the Custer-Gallatin National Forest has been significantly reduced in recent years. This grant pays 100 of costs of application on USFS land. Tallies for 2024 Treated 497 acres on USFS grazing allotments and heavily traveled corridors leading into recreational areas, paid commercial applicators 59,172 in 2024 and a total of over 172,345 to date.
- $60,271 spent. COOPERATIVE WEED CONTROL PROGRAMS SMALL AND LARGE ACREAGE, integrated, locally led approaches to noxious weed management enabling SVWC to collaborate with multiple agencies and hundreds of local landowners. Programs include SVWCs SMALL ACREAGE Cooperative Weed Control Program has treated weeds from Nye to Columbus Montana. This program is intended for landowners with LESS than 20 acres. Tallies for 2024 Enrolled 100 participants, including 1800 acres, to treat noxious weeds on 211 acres and provided cost-share to 8 participants in the amount of 2,880. SVWC used 3 commercial applicators and paid them 34,724. SVWC Large Acreage Noxious Weed Control Program targets landowners with MORE than 20 acres located on or adjacent to elk habitat. SVWC received another 20,000 from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation RMEF for 2023-2024. RMEF has contributed 159,000 over the past 14 years to this program. Tallies for 2024 Provided cost-share to 12 participants, representing 14,200 acres, to treat 400 acres via areal and ground application and provided cost-share in the amount of 9,815.
- Program Service Expenses 24,349, Grants and allocations 21,540, Revenue 0 RIVER ASSESSMENT TRIAGE TEAM RATT. The 2022 flooding of the Stillwater and East Rosebud River was on a scale never seen before. RATT was modeled after the concept used as a response to the disaster along the Musselshell River near Roundup, MT. Tallies for 2024 RATT received a grant of 33,500 from Stillwater Conservation District to pay for debris removal. RATT spearheaded post-flood debris removal efforts on the Stillwater River, collecting 10 dump truck loads of non-native debris from 12 sties along riverbanks and islands from Nye to Columbus. One contractor was paid 16,040 for debris removal and two flood relief grants were awarded for head gate stabilization project 5,500.
- Program Service Expenses 8,245, Grants and allocations 0, Revenue 0 STILLWATER-ROSEBUD WATER QUALITY INITIATIVE SRWQI was new in Fall of 2020. SRWQI is aimed at continuing a watershed assessment project, monitoring the health of streams and developing geographic information system GIS mapping capability in the watershed. The SRWQI completed the fourth year of collecting baseline water samples at nine sites on four tributaries encompassing 116 river miles in the Stillwater-Rosebud drainages. The SRWQI rallied seven volunteers to lead water sampling and data collection efforts. The SRWQI assisted Montana State University with compilation of a comprehensive 3-year summary of data that had been collected from the SRWQI. The data collected by this project is of a non-regulatory nature, intended to provide some basic indication of stream health to inform the residents of the Stillwater Valley and protect all the uses we make our streams for this generation and those to come.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, 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 November 6, 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 2024.
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 September 2011.
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 November 4, 2026.
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