Friends of the Inyo
“Protect and care for the public lands of the Eastern Sierra.”
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.
Every year they sign one sentence and file it with the federal government: “The Friends of the Inyos mission is to protect, and care for, the lands and waters of Californias Eastern Sierra.”
Where the money went, FY2025
The work, and what it cost
Reading every lease sale
$526KPolicy: 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 min...
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.
Keeping the wild alive
$219KStewardship: Friends 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.
Backed on the record by Resources Legacy Fund, latest filing FY24.
$744,945 programs, $224,364 management, $54,385 fundraising. Form 990, FY2025.
The people
Who does the work
Succeeds Tom Boo Md in the officer table.
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. This one caught a changing of the guard in the act: the FY2025 officer table lists Tom Boo Md, the return itself is signed by Wendy Schneider. Orgs that claim their page can update it same-day. 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.
Make it 301The filings
14 years of filings
14 years of filings
Total revenue by fiscal year, as filed. Point at 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.
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 ground
The places they defend
See every threatened place on one map, and who stands for each.
The California congressional delegation averages 81 of 100 on public lands. See the full scorecard
Ways in
How to help
73 cents of your dollar goes straight to the work above.
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
40 years on the ground, 300 volunteers, 73 cents of every dollar on the line. That is who is holding it. There is room for one more.