Forest Society Honors David Roby as the 2025 Conservationist of the Year

The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests presented its Conservationist of the Year Award at its 124th Annual Meeting held on September 27, 2025. This prestigious award honors people whose commitment to promote and achieve land conservation is exemplary; people whose actions have made a difference not just in their own backyards but also have advanced the protection and stewardship of land statewide. 

This year, David Roby, of Lyme, was honored as the Conservationist of the Year in recognition of his professional and personal achievements in land conservation, wildlife protection, and habitat restoration in the Upper Valley and across the state, nation, and worldwide. 

Roby was a founding partner of The Lyme Timber Company in 1976, a private timberland investment management company. Lyme Timber was a leader in integrating the use of conservation easements and habitat mitigation banks as part of its business investment model. The company was a key partner in conserving the 171,500-acre Connecticut Lakes Headwaters property in northern New Hampshire and thousands of acres across New Hampshire and many other states. Over 20 years, Lyme Timber helped conserve more than 800,000 acres and continues today as an employee-owned private company.

In pursuit of his personal interest in conserving forests in the Upper Valley, Roby established Bear Hill Conservancy Trust to acquire and conserve forest land. Bear Hill now holds a forest of 17,000 acres. The forest includes some of the highest quality wildlife habitat in the state. This land surrounds the Kilham Bear Center, which Roby has also generously supported. Over many years, Roby has worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to permanently protect the Bear Hill lands as part of the Silvio Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge.

As 57-year members of the Forest Society, Roby and his wife Barbara have supported numerous efforts by the Forest Society, including the Northern Pass opposition, and the purchase of 1,000-acre Black Mountain Forest in Sutton and Warner in 2010. In addition, Barbara’s family lands in East Andover are protected by a Forest Society conservation easement and the Robys donated the nearby 42-acre Roby Preserve to Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust in 2017.

“David and Barbara Roby have together had a significant impact for good on the New Hampshire landscape,” said Jack Savage, president of the Forest Society. “David was a leader at Lyme Timber, and the scale of his personal commitment to conserving New Hampshire’s forests may not be widely known. In addition to his own impressive work, he encourages and supports others in the conservation of their land, and he supports many land trusts, local, national and international.”

“We have been lucky to have David living and working in New Hampshire all of these years and I am so pleased that the Forest Society has the opportunity to recognize his contributions to conservation, restoration and habitat protection with our 2025 Conservationist of the Year award,” added Savage.