Effective Instruments for Timber Investment Management Organizations (TIMO) Cooperation with Conservation Groups

Forestry in the United States has changed rapidly in the past 20 years. Ownership of private forest land has changed from Integrated Forest Products Firms (IFP) to smaller landowners and investors. TIMOs have proliferated and purchased land rapidly following the sale of many IFP tracts. With the bevy of land sales, conservation groups have taken notice and have also been trying to obtain land, through fee sales as well as conservation easements in order to protect and prevent the rapid development that has replaced many traditional forest lands. One of the more interesting phenomena that has occurred amidst these swift changes in ownership and status of forestlands is the partnership between strictly for profit TIMOs and non-profit conservation groups to obtain adequate returns to investors yet preserve working landscapes and prevent development. Interviews with fifteen TIMO and conservation group managers (seven TIMO executives, seven conservation group specialists, one retired individual that worked for both entities) was able to provide insight into the motivation for these agreements, nature of the relationships, management objectives, and areas for further research. Issues investigated in this paper include, structure of agreements, easements, emerging markets, profit shelters for non-profits, Conservation TIMOs, the future for TIMO holdings, and conservation labeling.