The Earth Partners

What The Earth Partners does

The Earth Partners LP is a privately held, Chevy Chase, Maryland-based land restoration company founded in 2010 that develops environmental markets on marginal and degraded U.S. lands. The firm operates across six product lines: wetland and stream compensatory mitigation banking (the largest portfolio on the Texas Coastal Plain — five banks covering 2,000+ acres and 11 miles of stream channels); voluntary soil carbon projects using a Verra-validated methodology (VM0021); rangeland brush management across Texas and New Mexico (700,000+ enrolled acres); forest restoration via diseased-tree removal and biomass markets in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service; coastal prairie restoration piloted with USDA and FDC Enterprises; and conservation biomass market development. Its proprietary Soil Carbon Quantification Methodology, built with Applied Ecological Services and validated by the Verified Carbon Standard, is the firm's primary technical differentiator. A 2014 $430M commitment from Vision Ridge Capital Partners suggests the firm operates as a capital-deploying platform rather than a pure services firm.

The Earth Partners generates revenue through project development and the transaction-based sale of environmental credits (mitigation credits, carbon credits) and biomass byproducts, with pricing quote-based and not publicly disclosed. Its customer base is hybrid: institutional and private investors seek risk-adjusted returns from restoration assets; landowners provide acreage and earn multiple revenue streams (agriculture, forestry, water rights, environmental credits) on each acre; and the regulated development community purchases mitigation credits to satisfy environmental compliance obligations. Distribution is direct and relationship-led: enterprise field sales for credit sales and investor/landowner partnerships, supplemented by a website with topic-specific contact routing and content marketing. Core distribution channels are domestic (Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, South Dakota, California) with one cross-border engagement in British Columbia via the Brinkman Group.

The Earth Partners is led by founder David Tepper (former Merrill Lynch Director of Investment Banking; founder of the largest private-sector environmental market fund at Climate Change Capital) and senior policy advisor Dave Groves (former Obama White House senior policy advisor; originator of the first Forest Resilience Bond), supported by an in-house CPA (Meg Madden), a restoration ecologist (Andy Newman), and a biomass procurement specialist (Chris Norman) who also serves as business development manager at operating partner Brinkman Group. The firm has influenced the 2016 U.S. Mid-Century Strategy for Deep Decarbonization through a Forest Trends policy roadmap partnership. Key strategic partners include the USDA, U.S. Forest Service, Forest Trends, Verra, and Applied Ecological Services.

Name

The Earth Partners

Legal name

The Earth Partners LP

Website

https://theearthpartners.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Earth Partners LP is a U.S. land restoration company that develops compensatory mitigation banks, Verra-validated soil carbon projects, and biomass markets on marginal and degraded lands. It serves institutional investors and landowners seeking multi-revenue-stream environmental assets and sells mitigation credits to the regulated development community.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Land Restoration and Environmental Markets

NAICS

Support Activities for Forestry (1153)

SIC

Forestry (800)

akta.pro primary industry

Wetlands, Peatlands & Mangrove Restoration (Blue Carbon Restoration) (EUABABAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Grassland/Rangeland Management & Restoration (EUABABAF), Regenerative Agriculture & Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) (EUABABAE), Avoided Conversion & Ecosystem Protection (REDD+, Blue Carbon Conservation) (EUABABAC), Conservation, Restoration & Biodiversity Services (Habitat, Wetlands, Riparian) (IMAMAJAH), Ecosystem Services & Natural Capital Programs (Water, Biodiversity Credits, PES) (IMAMAJAK)

Keywords

• Compensatory mitigation banking
• Wetland stream credits
• Soil carbon sequestration
• Rangeland forest restoration
• Environmental market development

Headquarters

HQ city

Chevy Chase

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Wetland and Stream Mitigation Credits: Development and sale of compensatory mitigation credits for wetland and stream impacts. The company develops mitigation banks that restore wetland types and stream channels, generating credits that can be sold to offset environmental impacts in the regulated development community.
2. Carbon Sequestration Credits: Revenue from carbon sequestration projects using the company's Soil Carbon Quantification Methodology. Projects generate carbon credits through sustainable agricultural practices and soil carbon enhancement, particularly in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region.
3. Conservation Biomass: Revenue from conservation biomass byproducts of forest or grassland restoration practices. The company builds markets for biomass including wood pellets for animal bedding, industrial absorption, bio-heating, packaging, and soil amendments.
4. Agriculture and Forestry Revenue: Multiple revenue streams brought to a single acre including agriculture and forestry products, water rights, and environmental credits, enabling projects to operate at scale while generating attractive returns for landowners and investors.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Earth Partners LP develops, restores, and monetizes marginal and degraded lands through compensatory mitigation banking, soil carbon sequestration projects, rangeland and forest restoration, coastal prairie restoration, and conservation biomass market development. The company generates multiple revenue streams per acre (agriculture, forestry, water rights, and environmental credits) and operates the largest portfolio of mitigation banks on the Texas Coastal Plain, restoring over 2,000 acres of wetlands and 11 miles of stream channels.

Product overview

The Earth Partners is a land restoration company offering a portfolio of environmental market services focused on maximizing value from degraded and marginal lands. The core offerings include: Wetland & Stream Mitigation (compensatory mitigation banking), Soil Carbon (sequestration projects with a proprietary VCS-validated methodology), Rangeland Restoration (brush management programs), Forest Restoration (disease/at-risk tree removal and biomass markets), Coastal Prairie Restoration (native grass establishment), and Conservation Biomass (market development for restoration byproducts). The company operates across multiple environmental markets simultaneously, generating multiple revenue streams per acre through agriculture, forestry, water rights, and environmental credits.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wetland & Stream Mitigation Development of compensatory mitigation banks providing wetland and stream credits to offset environmental impacts; includes due diligence, permitting, and project development services for mitigation projects, with the largest portfolio of compensatory mitigation projects on the Texas Coastal Plain restoring over 2,000 acres of wetlands and 11 miles of stream channels.
• Soil Carbon Carbon sequestration projects utilizing a proprietary Soil Carbon Quantification Methodology validated by the Verified Carbon Standard, focused on reversing subsidence and restoring native habitats in degraded agricultural lands such as the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
• Rangeland Restoration Brush management and restoration of degraded rangelands in the Southwestern U.S., producing wood pellets as feedstock for renewable energy plants and enrolling more than 700,000 acres across Texas and New Mexico into brush management programs.
• Forest Restoration Restoration of degraded forests through removal of diseased and at-risk trees; creates markets for forest residues and low-grade timber to produce wood pellets for animal bedding, industrial absorption, bio-heating, packaging, and soil amendments.
• Coastal Prairie Restoration Restoration of native coastal prairie habitats along the Gulf Coast through planting of native perennial grasses on fallow agricultural lands; pilot established 1,500 acres in partnership with USDA and FDC Enterprises supporting over 200 species of conservation concern.
• Conservation Biomass Market development for biomass byproducts from forest and grassland restoration, including forest residues from hazardous fuel reduction and harvesting of invasive species; builds markets and deploys capital for conservation biomass utilization across product categories such as wood pellets, bio-heating, packaging, and soil amendments.

Quantifiable outcome

• Restored over 2,000 acres of wetlands and 11 miles of stream channels through five mitigation banks
• +3 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Forest TrendscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerForest Trends is an NGO that uses markets and policies to create value from ecosystem services. David Tepper serves as senior executive at Forest Trends. The Earth Partners partnered with Forest Trends to develop the Land Carbon Policy Roadmap publication that influenced the 2016 U.S. Mid-Century Strategy for Deep Decarbonization.
• Brinkman GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTEP operating partner and co-founder. Chris Norman serves as business development manager at the Brinkman Group and has managed large-scale biomass removals, including on the 2 million acre Lax Kw'alaams First Nation-owned forest estate in British Columbia.
• FDC EnterprisesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with U.S. Department of Agriculture and FDC Enterprises to pilot coastal prairie restoration, establishing 1,500 acres of native perennial grasses demonstrating economic and ecological feasibility.
• U.S. Department of AgriculturecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUSDA partnership for coastal prairie restoration pilot project and broader agricultural policy alignment for sustainable land management.
• U.S. Forest ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with U.S. Forest Service to restore degraded forests by creating markets for diseased trees, forest residues, and other low-grade timber resources for wood pellet production.
• Applied Ecological ServicescoreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership with Applied Ecological Services to develop the Soil Carbon Quantification Methodology for quantifying carbon sequestration in soil, which was validated by the Verified Carbon Standard.
• Verified Carbon Standard (Verra)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerValidated the Soil Carbon Quantification Methodology (VM0021) developed by The Earth Partners. The methodology builds upon previous model-based methods and has been tested at more than twenty sites across several countries.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Weyerhaeuser: Weyerhaeuser is a major timberland owner and manager with growing exposure to ecosystem services markets. It operates at much greater scale than TEP but overlaps in forestry, carbon, and biomass end markets.
• Cardno (now Stantec Environmental Services): Cardno is a global environmental and engineering services firm with extensive mitigation banking, ecological restoration, and natural resource management capabilities. Comparable service portfolio to TEP but operating at much larger scale across multiple geographies.
• EcoAct: EcoAct is a larger international carbon and climate consultancy that develops and certifies carbon projects across multiple registries. Comparable to TEP at the carbon-market layer but broader in scope and global in geography.

Direct peers

• GreenTrees: GreenTrees operates a nature-based carbon platform focused on reforestation and afforestation projects across the U.S. South, monetizing carbon credits and ecosystem services — overlapping with TEP's forest restoration and credit issuance work.
• Finite Carbon: Finite Carbon is a leading U.S. developer of forest-based voluntary carbon offset projects, originating Improved Forest Management and afforestation credits. Highly comparable to TEP's carbon market and forest restoration work.
• Resource Environmental Solutions (RES): RES is one of the largest U.S. providers of compensatory mitigation and ecological restoration services, operating mitigation banks and stream/wetland restoration projects nationwide. It is the closest direct competitor to TEP's Texas Coastal mitigation banking business.
• Westervelt Ecological Services: Westervelt Ecological Services develops and operates compensatory mitigation banks and habitat conservation projects across the western U.S., with similar revenue model (credit sales to regulated developers) and overlapping geography with TEP.
• Ecosystem Investment Partners (EIP): EIP is a PE-backed ecological restoration firm that develops and manages mitigation banks, stream and wetland projects, and nature-based solutions across the eastern U.S. Directly comparable to TEP in deal structure and mitigation banking focus.
• Bluesource: Bluesource develops and aggregates carbon offset projects across forestry, agriculture, and methane capture, with a strong position in voluntary and compliance carbon markets. Comparable to TEP's soil carbon and forest restoration origination model.
• GreenVest: GreenVest is a mitigation banking and ecological restoration firm operating in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast, with a credit-sale business model comparable to TEP's wetland and stream mitigation services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/theearthpartners
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-earth-partners-lp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Earth Partners