IRS Form 1023 Request for Tax-Exempt Status: Narrative:
Narrative
IRS Form 1023 Application for Tax Exempt Status
Purpose.
The Figs 4 Fun Foundation (“Foundation”) plans to establish a Preservation Orchard where the many varieties of figs (Ficus carica) can be conserved and displayed. The Preservation Orchard will facilitate enhancement of public knowledge of and access to figs through interaction with the Orchard (tastings, demonstrations, seminars, workshops), through research of the collection (adding to the website database), and by distribution of scion material and plants
As the basis of the Preservation Orchard, the Foundation plans to acquire, via gift, the private Figs 4 Fun collection, to provide for its conservation, and to expand it by adding material from other similarly held private collections. Currently, there is no comparable collection or preservation project of which we are aware. There is a smaller collection maintained by the USDA at the Wolfskill Experimental Orchard, University of California, Davis (http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=12146). There is also a much smaller collection maintained by the Emma Prusch Farm Park Foundation (http://www.pruschfarmpark.org/). There are instances of large private collections of fruiting plants being lost upon the death of the collectors. By taking action now, the Foundation seeks to avert a similar fate for this collection. See http://www.seedambassadors.org/avalon/nickbotnersorchard.htm regarding the possible loss of one of the world’s greatest apple and fruit collections. We have been told that the cherimoya collection at South Coast Research & Extension Center will be removed soon because of lack of funding for its continued maintenance (http://ucanr.edu/sites/screc/).
The current private Figs 4 Fun collection consists of approximately 1500 trees representing more than 800 varieties. Promised contributions and potential acquisitions will easily bring the collection to 1200 or more varieties within a very few years.
The Foundation will raise funds to acquire land in San Diego County or a similarly suitable location on which to establish the Preservation Orchard along with the necessary supporting facilities and improvements. The Foundation will raise funds for their care and maintenance, along with ongoing research and documentation, education of the public at-large and public distribution of the varieties (through sales of plants and scion material).
Initial planning suggests that the Foundation will require a minimum of 10 acres of land to effectively preserve 2500 trees. We plan to have a minimum of 2 trees of each variety to limit the potential loss of a variety by the death or disease of any one tree. This follows the practice of the USDA at Wolfskill. Unlike the USDA practice at Wolfskill, the Foundation will consider establishing two distinct locations, each holding one of the two sets of varietal trees to further mitigate potential loss of varieties through disease, natural disaster or other causes.
Figs are prized and enjoyed throughout the United States, even in climates and locations where they cannot survive outdoors in the winter. (See “Grow Figs where you think you can’t” by Steven Biggs, http://www.stevenbiggs.com/books/). Despite the tremendous diversity of figs around the world, very few varieties are grown commercially in fruit orchards or propagated as nursery stock for the home orchardist. Even the USDA Germplasm Collection, maintained at Wolfskill Experimental orchard by the University of California, Davis, holds less than 400 varieties, many of which are caprifigs and products which did not meet the goals of a breeding program at the University of California, Riverside, during the 1950s conducted by Ira J. Condit. The majority of this collection is not currently available for distribution to the public.
History.
The genesis of this project goes back several years. The owner of the private Figs 4 Fun collection (“Collector”) sought 3 or 4 additional quality varieties for his garden, but in the process has collected more than 800 different varieties, of which around 5% are currently available from commercial or retail nursery sources. Several varieties were collected as unknowns from ethnic neighborhoods by a variety of fig lovers in the hopes of preserving varieties brought here a hundred years ago as waves of immigrants found their way to America’s shores from such countries as Greece and Italy. Additional varieties from various sources have already been offered or promised to the Figs 4 Fun Foundation. The Collector recognizes the stewardship responsibility which he has with regard to this possibly unparalleled collection, and desires to see it preserved and expanded, along with continuing research and ensuring continuing public access.
Education.
The Collector has been part of a rich tradition of education and sharing through his years of membership in the California Rare Fruit Growers. In furtherance of that tradition, the Collector has developed what is thought to be the largest website and database (http://figs4fun.com) of Ficus carica varieties anywhere. New pictures and information from the private Figs 4 Fun collection are added each year, along pictures and information from other fig enthusiasts. Field observations from the USDA/UC Davis Germplasm collection at Wolfskill Experimental Orchard are also included, together with material from other private collections and sources.
The website also has practical guides about propagating and growing figs which are oriented to the home gardener and orchardist, along with links to over 1000 external sources of additional information. The Foundation intends to acquire and enhance the current body of information contained on the website in order to expand the information available to the public.
In 2007, the Figs 4 Fun Forum (http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/) was initiated to provide for the interchange of knowledge, ideas, and experiences, and the sharing of plants, cuttings and more. It has been a platform for connecting fig lovers with like-minded people who are seeking information following a first enjoyable encounter with fresh figs. The Forum is approaching 2000 members, from many countries, and is read by many more people who profit and learn without formally joining. For example, October 13, 2012, “My name is GE and I joined the Figs4Fun forum yesterday. I have been reading and learning from the posts for some time before I decided to join. My interest and enthusiasm for figs is dashed only by my limited space and the cooler climate here in San Francisco. Currently, I have...” It has provided a forum for organizing regional meetings which have furthered these objectives through personal interaction, plant swaps, and hands on educational experiences, e.g. http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Cajun-Fig-Fest-Wrap-Up-6038347 and http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Fig-meeting-in-the-Northeast-April-25th-4678677?highlight=northeast+bass. The community nature of fig growers and their willingness to share and help educate new and experienced gardeners alike will continue to help foster many of the purposes of the Foundation.
The Foundation plans for these efforts to be transitioned to the Foundation, and with sufficient funding, greatly expanded. There is already an extensive backlog of informational material and photographs (maybe 5,000) that could be added to the public website if resources were available.
The Orchard will provide opportunities for hands-on interaction with the many varieties of figs, tastings, demonstrations of cultural practices and techniques, along with grafting and other propagation techniques.
Collecting.
The Foundation will continue to expand the collection. The private Figs 4 Fun Collection already consists of more than 1500 trees representing more than 800 varietal accessions and has grown steadily each year. There are plans, offers and possibilities for adding several hundred additional accessions over the next few years (see one example under “Preservation”). Collecting from ethnic neighborhoods by various members of the fig community had yielded some choice unknown varieties which "emigrated" from Portugal, Greece, Italy, etc., often in the early part of the 20th century. Continuing to add to the collection through discovering and recovering many more of these “lost” varieties is a part of the vision of the Foundation.
Preservation.
Conserving the collection in an Orchard situation will provide a level of insurance that these varieties are preserved and do not once again sink into obscurity. It will also be a form of insurance for the donors of plant material. Even while this collection has been in private hands, there have been occasions when the sources/suppliers have lost their original or parent trees, and the collection has been able to replace those lost varieties. It is anticipated that this will be a great benefit to more donors in the future. Reversing the process distributing these varieties to many private hands will provide assurance against loss of varieties held in the collection. Ultimately, wide distribution, facilitated by the founding of the Preservation Orchard, is the greatest form of preservation that there is.
As an example, an e-mail from a private collector (BW): “As I was taking inventory and making more permanent labels, it became more apparent that [GH another private collector who, currently, is not able to maintain his collection because of his work situation] has one hell of a collection and then I realized that I really need to get these to a more secure "gene bank". This past year it hit me that it is very important to make sure that varieties are propagated and distributed. I realized that if I had some unusual fig that died or got stolen and had not shared it, then that would be a bad loss - without an easy way of getting it back into my collection (it would be a loss for all of us that are concerned about such things). That is one reason why what you [the Incorporator] are doing now, the goals of the new foundation and other collectors are such an important part of this aspect of our food culture.”
Research.
The Collector has visited the USDA Collection 5 of the past 6 years with the goal of documenting and photographing that collection for the benefit of the public. Much of that material is already available, but there is also much that has not yet been prepared for the website because of a lack of time and funding. The researchers at the USDA/UC Davis facility use the results of this documentation to further their own research and there are additional collections in private hands which could also be similarly documented and added to the current knowledge base. Some of these have received some attention, but time and funding for on-going and thorough documentation has been lacking. The current public website and database is at http://figs4fun.com
Distribution.
Distribution is an integral part of the reason for developing and preserving the private Figs 4 Fun Collection through the vehicle of the Foundation. To the extent that scion is available each season it has been made available to the public, for a number of years by the Collector. Some varieties have been donated to the collection specifically for the purpose of their being made available to the public at large, by enthusiasts desirous of more privacy. The income derived from the sale of propagative cuttings has largely funded the maintenance of the collection while it has been in private hands. Continuing that distribution, through the Foundation, will be one source of funding for the on-going maintenance of the collection.
The establishment of the Preservation Orchard will provide the “foundation” trees which will enable the distribution of cuttings for propagation by amateur gardeners and fig lovers nationwide, and possibly beyond (subject to agricultural and import regulations and restrictions).
Funding.
The Foundation intends to seek funding from a variety of sources: the larger “fig community”, grants, contributions from organizations sympathetic with the goals of the Foundation, and from the wider public. The Foundation intends to seek cooperation from organizations which share the conservation goals of the Foundation.