About Us.

One advisor at the head of the table.

Protecting land in South Carolina doesn’t have to mean juggling lawyers, brokers, foresters, conservation groups, and government agencies on your own.

West Branch was built to give you one advisor who’s accountable for the whole thing: someone who sits at the head of the table, pulls the specialists together, and stays with the work until it’s finished.

About West Branch Advisors

West Branch is South Carolina’s conservation advisory firm. In previous roles, we spent 20 years seeing families and stakeholders struggle with the sometimes-confusing conservation process. Now we work with landowners, local governments, institutions, and philanthropists who are facing a decision about their land and don’t want to take on a fragmented marketplace alone.

A few principles guide everything we do.

West Branch is an advisory firm, so you’re the one we answer to. Our advice is built around what you want for your land, not around any single transaction. That means our role is to help you make sound decisions, not steer you toward a particular organization or type of transaction.

Conservation is a long game, and a single transaction rarely finishes the work. We’re set up to stay with you across the years it takes, as the land, the family, or the plan changes.

We won’t ask you to replace your lawyer, your CPA, your preferred land trust, or anyone else you trust. We work alongside them and give you a single point of accountability.

That focus is deliberate. We know this state’s land, its land trusts, its governments, and its agencies in a way a generalist firm can’t.

About Raleigh West

West Branch is led by J. Raleigh West III, who has helped protect more than 330,000 acres in South Carolina through over 500 transactions during his career.

Before launching West Branch, Raleigh served as Director of the South Carolina Conservation Bank (2019–2026), the state’s largest source of land protection funding. During his tenure, he oversaw the state’s investment of approximately $250 million in projects ranging from historic battlefields and urban parks to working family farms and wildlife preserves.

Before joining the Conservation Bank, Raleigh served as Director and General Counsel of the Lord Berkeley Conservation Trust, where he spearheaded projects that cumulatively protected more than 20,000 acres in the Charleston metropolitan area and led the organization through the Land Trust Alliance’s accreditation process. In that role, he directly managed all aspects of conservation transactions and business operations, gaining practical experience at every stage of the land protection process.

Earlier in his career, Raleigh worked as an associate attorney with Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A., and as a project manager with The Trust for Public Land.

Raleigh holds a B.A. from Wofford College, an MBA from The Citadel, and a law degree from the University of South Carolina. He also serves as an adjunct professor at the USC School of Law, where he teaches conservation law.

Raleigh’s commitment to conservation extends to his personal life. His family’s farm in Oconee County is permanently protected by a conservation easement, and he has undertaken the restoration of a trout stream on his North Carolina farm.

He and his wife, Hall, live in Columbia, South Carolina, with their two children, Scottie and Hugh.