Friends of the Inyo
“Protect and care for the public lands of the Eastern Sierra.”
2 comments to the agencies, 73 cents of every dollar to the work.
The origin
How they started
Friends of the Inyo cares for the Eastern Sierra’s public lands, from the eastern slopes of Yosemite down to Death Valley, and has since 1986. Based in Bishop, it mixes hands-on trail stewardship, including its Mt. Whitney Volunteer Corps, with hard advocacy on lands run by the Forest Service, BLM, and Park Service. Its longest-running fight is against gold exploration at Conglomerate Mesa, the rugged country between the Sierra and Death Valley that mining companies keep eyeing.
Where the money went, FY2025
The work, and what it cost
Policy
$526K, 51% of spendingFriends of the Inyo’s largest program is its policy engagement program. In 2025, FOI continued to advocate for and protect California’s Eastern Sierra from inappropriate projects aimed at extracting water and minerals…
Including $308 granted onward.
Read it as they filed it
Policy: Friends of the Inyo's largest program is its policy engagement program. In 2025, FOI continued to advocate for and protect California's Eastern Sierra from inappropriate projects aimed at extracting water and minerals from ecologically and culturally sensitive areas. FOI continued to advance campaigns to permanently protect 160,000 acres in southern Inyo County, and to designate a new Area of Critical Environmental Concern in northern Mono County. Additionally, Friends of the Inyo worked to protect the public lands of its working area, and throughout the United States, by opposing the selloff of public lands and budget and staffing cuts to the National Park Service, Forest Service and BLM. Additionally, we organized opposition to the appointment of anti-public lands agency leadership, and the weakening of laws and regulations that protect our environment.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Stewardship
$219K, 21% of spendingFriends of the Inyo effectively cared for the lands of the Eastern Sierra in 2025 through its stewardship program.
Including $300 granted onward.
Read it as they filed it
Stewardship: Friends of the Inyo effectively cared for the lands of the Eastern Sierra in 2025 through its stewardship program. This includes physical programs for protection and restoration of public lands through habitat monitoring and improvement, removal of invasive species, removal of human debris, and maintenance with the intent to limit the expansion of human disturbance in natural environments. Typical seasonal stewardship activities include trail and campground maintenance, restoration of disturbed sites, and public outreach and education. Our organization partners with local schools, college groups, donors, as well as local and federal agencies to care for the public lands of the Eastern Sierra.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Follow the dollar
73 cents of every dollar goes to the work
Read it as a snapshot, not a scorecard. Splits move year to year with grants and campaigns, and healthy shops live all across this range.
$744,945 programs, $224,364 management, $54,385 fundraising. Form 990, FY2025.
The backers
Backed on the record by Resources Legacy Fund, latest filing FY24.
The people
Who does the work
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. If it’s out of date, tell us. Work at Friends of the Inyo? Claim this page.
Those 300 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If Friends of the Inyo is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.
Find your way inThe filings
14 years of filings
Total revenue by fiscal year, as filed. Point at or tap the line for any year.
| Year | Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2011 | $684,536 |
| 2012 | $604,563 |
| 2013 | $587,212 |
| 2014 | $479,922 |
| 2015 | $480,918 |
| 2016 | $539,119 |
| 2017 | $472,933 |
| 2018 | $579,348 |
| 2019 | $547,883 |
| 2020 | $754,546 |
| 2021 | $972,026 |
| 2022 | $788,474 |
| 2023 | $940,557 |
| 2025 | $890,026 |
From $685K in 2011 to $890K in FY25, across 14 public filings (none on record for 2024).
In court
Fights alongside Center for Biological Diversity (1 shared case), Sierra Club (1 shared case) and Western Watersheds Project (1 shared case). Same case, same side, on the federal docket. Their dockets on CourtListener.
The record
On the record with the agencies
2 comments on federal decisions since 2023, each filed under the group’s own name on regulations.gov, none yet on a decision we track. Read them on regulations.gov.
Year by year
The record, in order
- 1986Friends of the Inyo is formed.the directory; the return’s own formation year is 1997
- 2023Friends of the Inyo v. U.S. Forest Service: plaintiff, closed.the docket
- First appears in Resources Legacy Fund’s grants.the funder’s return
- 20251 comment to the Bureau of Land Management, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- 20261 comment to the Bureau of Land Management, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
Green, a funder’s return. Hollow, a filing. Every row is a record we hold: 1 federal case with the group on the docket, 2 comments filed under its own name, 1 funder whose returns name it. Nothing here is written from memory.
Their ground
The places they defend
See every threatened place on one map, and who stands for each.
The California congressional delegation averages 82 of 100 on public lands. See the full scorecard
Ways in
How to help
Straight to their own donation page. Your dollar never passes through us.
Give on their site ↗Show upVolunteer with themFind their volunteer door on their own site.
Find it on their site ↗SpeakComment and callOpen comment windows and call scripts for fights like these, ready to send.
Public Lands Action NetworkFollowWatch the mapEvery threatened place in the country, tracked, with who stands for each.
Threatened Lands MapStand with Friends of the Inyo
The mission is theirs. The backing is yours.