Advisory Services

The Lyme Timber Company LLC provides strategic advisory services to landowners, foundations, philanthropists, and conservation finance intermediaries. Our primary focus includes working with landowners on conservation orientated real estate dispositions (fee and conservation easement) and assisting foundations with the design and implementation of land conservation initiatives. Additional advisory services include research and presentations on issues related to strategic land conservation planning, conservation transactions, land trust performance and growth, public funding for conservation, climate change and land conservation, conservation finance, and emerging ecosystem markets.

Private Landowners

Lyme assists corporate, individual, and family landowners in the design and implementation of conservation-orientated real estate dispositions, including fee or easement donations, the sale and/or bargain sale of land or conservation easements, conservation development, and the monetization of ecosystem services. We work with landowners to develop a specific strategy or set of strategies that achieves a landowner’s long term financial, family, and planning goals. We provide comprehensive project management and implementation, including coordination with non-governmental organizations and validation of public funding for conservation transactions. We have completed complex conservation real estate transactions on behalf of private entities in California, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, Ohio, New York, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire and Quebec, Canada.

Foundations

Lyme advises private philanthropists and private grant making foundations on the strategic design, implementation and evaluation of land conservation initiatives and programs targeting high priority conservation lands. We prepare feasibility and needs assessments, conduct due diligence for grant programs as well as specific grant awards, assess opportunities to secure matching funds for capital investments and conduct leverage evaluation for completed programs and initiatives, and provide grantee counseling. We also assist foundation staff and board members with the exploration, design and analysis of innovative financial instruments, such as loan funds, loan guarantees and program related investments (PRIs). Current and former foundation clients include the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, LOR Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and George and Cynthia Mitchell Foundation.