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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Public Land Solutions

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 454818675
UT · NTEE C30
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Jason Keith, Executive Director / CEO ($105,744) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 154 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 92nd percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Jason Keith — reported title “MANAGING DIR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

154 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 154 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$802 total compensation of comparable organizations → $226,151 $105,744
$25,29910th
$50,23025th
$68,058Median
$84,00775th
$96,50990th
$105,744This org · 92nd
p10$25,299
p25$50,230
p50$68,058
p75$84,007
p90$96,509
$105,744

Comparable organizations

Each figure is Form 990 Part VII columns D + F (reportable pay plus other compensation and benefits; column F may include amounts from related organizations), normalized to UT cost of living (BEA RPP, 2023) and to its filing year (CPI-U); the reported amount is on each linked 990.

OrganizationStateRevenueMatched titleComp
(reported)
Comp
(adjusted)
FY
Wachiska Audubon Society Inc NE$421,211 Executive Di $70,404 $73,987 2024
Partnership For The National Trails DC$418,939 Executive Director $105,380 $90,353 2024
Baduwa't Watershed Council CA$426,600 Board President $55,370 $45,511 2025
Grand Canyon River Guides Inc AZ$418,618 Executive Director $63,954 $58,546 2025
Whiteswan Environmental We WA$418,324 Executive Director $92,322 $80,760 2024
Clean River Project Inc MA$418,111 President $57,300 $51,795 2023
Mclean Game Refuge Inc CT$428,079 President $49,166 $45,041 2024
Upper Peninsula Rc & D MI$416,725 Executive Di $8,293 $8,363 2024
North Dakota Private Grazing Lands ND$414,512 Past Chairma $22,112 $24,409 2023
Forests Forever Inc CA$431,470 Ex Dir. & Secre $79,070 $66,711 2024
Gunpowder Riverkeeper Inc MD$431,484 Executive Director $65,721 $60,034 2024
Chattanooga Audubon Society TN$411,485 Executive Director $53,385 $54,828 2024
Coral Bay Community Council VI$434,239 Executive Director $83,628 $83,628 2024
Fox Haven Center Inc MD$410,766 Director Of Operations And $67,332 $61,505 2024
Carbon Underground CA$435,291 Director, Strategic Partnerships $59,547 $53,844 2022
Yellow Dog Community And Conservation MT$409,274 Executive Dir $80,315 $84,589 2024
Glen Canyon Institute UT$436,232 Executive Di $75,326 $75,326 2024
Coalition For Sonoran Desert Protection AZ$436,402 Executive Dir. $77,915 $73,214 2024
Climate Advocates Voces Unidas TX$437,100 Outgoing Exe $136,379 $129,857 2025
Fungi Foundation Inc NY$407,817 Chief Executive Director $58,336 $51,505 2024
Waterkeepers Chesapeake Inc MD$437,762 Executive Director $69,300 $63,303 2024
Department Of Bioregion WA$439,391 Executive Director $49,042 $42,900 2024
Friends Of Illinois Nature Preserves IL$405,851 Executive Director $70,000 $67,240 2024
Lake Katherine Nature Center And Botanic IL$440,469 Operations Manager $90,177 $89,180 2023
Royal African Foundation UT$441,715 President $23,328 $23,328 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to UT cost of living and 2024 dollars. Click any organization to verify the figure on ProPublica.

Methodology

Comparable organizations were drawn from electronically filed IRS Form 990 returns and matched on sector (NTEE code), budget (a size-adaptive revenue band that tightens as the organization grows), and geography (same-state first, broadening only when too few peers qualify); every organization within the band forms the peer set. To compare fairly across regions and years, peer compensation is normalized to UT cost of living (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2023) and to the subject's filing year (CPI-U). The figure benchmarked is Form 990 Part VII, Section A, columns D + F — reportable pay plus other compensation, benefits, and deferred amounts (column F may include amounts from related organizations) — with the chief executive matched by role. Related-organization amounts (column E) and institutional trustees are excluded. Full methodology: peerbasis.org/methodology.

Sample, role match & sensitivity

Sensitivity — the subject's percentile under alternative compensation definitions:

BasisSubject percentile
Total compensation (D + F), cost-of-living + inflation adjusted — the PeerBasis default92nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)92nd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted93rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted89th

If the percentile moves materially across these definitions, the result is sensitive to methodology choices, and the board should weigh which basis best fits its facts.

Rebuttable presumption of reasonableness · 26 CFR 53.4958-6

Compensation paid by a tax-exempt organization is presumed reasonable — shifting the burden to the IRS — when three requirements are met. This report supplies the comparability data for the second. The board should record the following in its minutes concurrently with its decision:

Draft board minutes — executive compensation

  1. The compensation of the Executive Director / CEO (Jason Keith) was approved in advance by [the Board / Compensation Committee], composed of members with no conflict of interest with respect to the arrangement.
  2. Prior to its determination, the authorized body obtained and relied upon appropriate comparability data, namely the PeerBasis Compensation Comparability Determination dated June 9, 2026, comparing compensation against 154 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C30), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $105,744 is reasonable (approximately the 92nd percentile of comparable organizations) and documented the basis for this determination concurrently, on [date], by a vote of [__ for / __ against].

Sources: IRS Form 990 e-file data (apps.irs.gov); IRS Business Master File (NTEE classification). Every figure traces to an original public filing — click any organization above to verify it on ProPublica. PeerBasis is a service of Prismind Analytics; its methodology is published, was commissioned for independent adversarial review, and discloses its own limitations. This report is comparability data to support a board's good-faith determination under IRC 4958; it is not legal or tax advice. Generated by PeerBasis on June 9, 2026.