Continuing on the theme of a recent post, the most likely path Linda and I will follow in the immediate future to provide a bridge to the far future is a limited liability corporation, an LLC, rather than jump straight to a 501(c)(e) nonprofit. A nonprofit would be like going straight into the deep end on future management of the prairies; we are likely to start in the wading pool with an LLC. That structure is easy to create, to manage, to create tax returns for and to bring in others to both ownership and management. It can become a nonprofit down the road, should we or our daughters decide that is the best path. Ostensibly it is a “for profit” entity, though the likelihood of profits is slim, and we will probably run it like a nonprofit. We can charge others for seed we gather, for hay we take off, for grazing or for other activities the land might be part of, and use that income to pay for management expenses in either format. Two differences between the two types of entity being that in the LLC any profit will be passed through to the owners every year on a K-1 form to be entered on their tax return, and that any money left over can be given to the owners as non-taxable distributions (all the tax having already been paid on the profit, as shown on the K-1), or it can just be kept as working capital that is used in the future. In my mind a third difference, however, is paramount: the land is still ours and can be passed down to our descendants. In a nonprofit the land belongs to the nonprofit entity. To me, this isn’t just a piece of land; it isn’t even just the land where I have worked to create a prairie restoration. Much of it is land that was broken out of prairie by my grandfather, starting 133 years ago. There is a deep history to respect. The future will begin as an LLC.

While the plan, stated before, and enlarged upon in the last blog post, is to have goals that would mostly fit a conservation nonprofit, it is worth digressing here into the crass subject of economics. None of my lofty idealism and dreams for the future mean anything without the income to pay the taxes, have liability insurance, pay for additional seed, and hire people to manage and work on the land. If I put the whole 587 acre farm into the LLC, not just the 267 acres that includes all the best native and restored prairies, that gets a lot easier, as it will include rent from the acres which are still farmed. It is still a worthwhile exercise, perhaps an extension of the whole concept of ecosystem services, to think about how we can fulfill all our other goals for the land and still make some money. First, the normal list of ecosystem services:

1. Erosion Control. Having this land in a permanent cover may not completely stop erosion, particularly on the gravel knobs which struggle to form a complete blanket of plant growth. It will, however, reduce it to almost nothing, and hopefully begin the slow process of rebuilding soil on the erodible hills.
2. Wildlife Habitat. In this neighborhood wildlife habitat is usually taken to mean pheasant habitat, or if a wetland, duck habitat. Thus, this could include access to hunting. Of course we are looking at this more expansively as habitat for everything from rodents to raptors to grassland songbirds. While most people don’t see arthropods as wildlife we need to add: 2a. Insect, and all Other LIttle Beings Habitat, more generally listed as Pollinator Habitat. We certainly want to support the bees and the butterflies, but also a lot of other life which is usually not looked at so fondly.
3. Water Quality. Perennial cover, plus the elimination of fertilizers, will not just mean less runoff, but cleaner runoff and water percolating to aquifers.
4. Carbon Sequestration. I devoted another post to this topic several years ago, so I will just mention that we have a set of points identified that we hope to monitor periodically to monitor carbon amounts, the second set of samples hopefully will be taken this fall to begin comparisons with those taken five years ago.
5. Education. We have been hosting a couple gatherings of various sorts here for several years, and this could become more of a focus, as well as the land potentially being used for university research projects.
6. Food and Fiber, and perhaps Energy. So far, the first two items are the only sources of income, from renting to neighboring farmers, but there are wind turbines within five miles.
7. *Supporting Services*. See below.
8. *Cultural Services*. See below.

Land is able to do much more than what is listed in the first six services, and we need to think expansively here, as we progress to finer distinctions in the general categories. In a recent post, “On to the Future”, and in several other posts, I have mentioned the concept of providing higher populations of as many species of native forbs, as well as less common grasses and sedges as possible both to provide more stability to those populations, and to provide a source of seed for other restorations. This seed can be shared, donated or sold. At the same time we are providing the same service for insects and wildlife, providing higher populations that contribute to their stability. In a USDA site talking about ecosystem services these are called “supporting services”, “services that maintain fundamental ecosystem services”.

In the same list the USDA document then mentions “cultural services” which could include anything from birdwatching, dark sky gazing at the heavens, hosting a plein air painting gathering, photography, wildflower gathering, acting as a scenic backdrop to passing motorists, or perhaps just wandering in the prairie to bask in its beauty and find solace in its embrace. Long thought, and perhaps longer conversations need to go on to decide which of these items to attempt to monetize, and a way that might be done. There is no necessity or mandate, however, to monetize everything merely because of the LLC designation. Should a small camp be set up to engage in an ecotourism venture which could even double as a hunting camp? Should we invite guests willy nilly? Or should we concentrate on our relationship with SDSU and the seed/plant initiative? There are still many questions.

Such things don’t have to go into the establishing documents of an LLC, but they could. I know our daughters want some sort of management plan to guide activities, some of which can be written into those documents, some of which can just be in an addendum as suggestions. An LLC operating agreement can be modified with the agreement of the members of the LLC, whether during or after our involvement. This allows our attempts to “manage from the grave” to be modified, perhaps with a unanimous vote of the board.

Finally, the LLC can use both its resources and further investment from the partners to purchase other land to protect or restore. This would allow another party (such as one of our daughters, or perhaps even one of the board members) to contribute money to the LLC towards a purchase which would be rewarded with ownership shares in the LLC. There is adjoining land that would be very desirable to add to our prairies from the standpoint of both the conservation goals, and for making a better grazing unit, and while no opportunity seems imminent one could occur.

There is need for a third post in this series, which would establish a framework, or perhaps suggestions for what might go into those LLC documents, including a management plan. This may take a bit, but both Linda and I have been writing down ideas, probably very different ideas, on some things, so we have a head start. I give no promises when that post will occur, but will do my best. Till then, as the host of the “Freakonomics” podcast always ends his show: “Take care of yourself, and if you can, somebody else, too.”