About

A Local small business
Helia Environmental LLC is a Western North Carolina (WNC) business based in Asheville providing ecological, forestry, and land management planning and stewardship services for forest landowners, conservation organizations, and infrastructure projects in North Carolina and the Southeast.

01. our mission

Our mission is to serve our clients—the forest landowners, the land protection directors, the project managers—through the highest quality work. With that, Helia represents the underlying patterns and processes of the natural world. It shows our ability to understand your land or project and bring it to life, with our unique skills and expertise.

04. our logo

The Helia Environmental logo represents the sunflower, with its characteristic flower pattern, which follows a distinctive spiral called Fermat’s spiral.  Each spiral approaches the golden ratio and follows Fibonacci’s sequence. The interconnecting pattern of Fermat’s spirals allows the sunflowers to pack an optimal number of florets and seeds within each cluster. Patterns and ratios such as this can be found throughout nature in shells, in growth rates of life forms, in hurricanes, galaxies and whirlpools, and in our human form.  Architects, inspired by nature’s balance, often use the golden ratio in creating handsomely-proportioned structures.

02. our name

Helia Environmental takes its name from these sunflowers, genus Helianthus. In this scientific context, Helia refers to the sun, the source of life and light on our planet.  In ancient Greece, Helia was a name for the sun.  Like sunflowers, Helia Environmental strives for balance, interconnectedness, and efficiency.

05. our teamwork philosophy

Helia Environmental strives to get the job done using the best people available. Helia works with a wide variety of experienced PR, engineering, legal, videography, natural resource, botanical, biological, and forestry professionals to meet the needs of clients. No project is too big, and no project is too small, as we can tailor a team to meet your diverse needs.

03. our values

Helia Environmental strives for:

  • Superior customer service
  • Healthy respect for all humans, animals, plants, ecosystems, and life in general
  • Clear understanding of complex management and stewardship choices involving living beings
  • Equal and balanced commitment to the natural world, clients, stakeholders, and other voices
  • Firm resolve to improve our relationship with nature
  • Rich knowledge that humans are a fundamental part of nature and its dynamics

06. our office

Helia Environmental has a net zero home office in Asheville, North Carolina to keep costs and environmental impact down. Helia will come to you.

Lloyd Raleigh

Dedicated to Serving Clients and Nature

Helia Environmental director Lloyd Raleigh has over twenty years of environmental and ecological experience working with international organizations, government agencies, research institutions and national, state, and local conservation organizations. In 1996, Lloyd received his master’s degree in Forest Science (MFS) from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies with a focus in management planning and ecosystem management.  He graduated in 1994 from the University of South Carolina, where he received a BA and a BS in interdisciplinary studies combining physical and biological sciences with writing and socioeconomics.  He has worked on over a hundred projects in the United States and internationally. He is NC registered forester #1711.