When CNN founder Ted Turner decided to invest in conservation, he didn't do it halfway. The media mogul owns more than 1.1 million acres in New Mexico—roughly 1.4% of the entire state. To put that in perspective, New Mexico is the fifth-largest state in the U.S., and Turner owns a chunk of it larger than Rhode Island.

His holdings are spread across three spectacular properties: the Vermejo Reserve (550,000 acres in the Rocky Mountain region), the Armendaris Reserve (360,000 acres in the Chihuahuan desert), and the Ladder Reserve (156,000 acres in the southern desert basin). These aren't just vanity ranches—they're working conservation projects focused on restoring native ecosystems and wildlife.

America's Conservation Cowboy

Turner isn't just New Mexico's biggest private landowner—he's the third-largest landowner in America, with approximately 2 million acres spanning Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, and South Dakota. His land empire started in the 1980s when he began purchasing struggling ranches and transforming them into wildlife sanctuaries.

The New Mexico legislature officially recognized Turner as the state's largest private landowner in 2023, acknowledging his significant contributions to conservation and land stewardship.

Bison, Not Cattle

What makes Turner's ranches unusual is what grazes on them. Instead of traditional cattle, Turner maintains one of the largest private bison herds in the world—over 45,000 animals across his properties. This isn't just nostalgia for the Old West; bison are native to North America and better suited to the land than domestic cattle, requiring less water and causing less soil erosion.

His ranches also function as hospitality destinations through Ted Turner Reserves, offering visitors a chance to experience these vast, wild landscapes. Guests can hunt, fish, and explore ecosystems that have been carefully restored to resemble their pre-settlement state.

When Capitalism Meets Conservation

Turner's approach represents a unique intersection of private wealth and environmental stewardship. By purchasing massive tracts of land and removing them from intensive agricultural use, he's created corridors for wildlife that might otherwise have nowhere to go. His properties have become havens for endangered species, including Mexican gray wolves and black-footed ferrets.

Critics sometimes question whether billionaire-owned conservation is the right model for protecting wild spaces, but there's no denying the impact. Turner's 1.1 million New Mexico acres represent one of the largest private conservation efforts in American history—a landscape roughly the size of Delaware devoted to letting nature reclaim its territory.

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