Turner’s website noted in an article announcing his passing that the properties would be preserved. “The well-being of these properties and the species present on each was of utmost importance to Turner; therefore, Turner ensured that upon his passing, his lands will continue to be protected, limiting future development and parcellation.”
His ranches in New Mexico topped 1.1 million acres, making him among the largest landowners in that state. His one ranch, Vermejo Park Ranch, in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, is 560,000 acres. Turner opened his three New Mexico ranches as vacation properties for guided tours, hunting, fishing, horseback riding and other activities.
He was considered the largest individual private landowner in Nebraska with more than 445,000 acres across the Sandhills region.
Turner also owned the 113,600-acre Flying D Ranch in southwest Montana, which also has a conservation easement through The Nature Conservancy. With a second ranch, Turned owned just under 127,000 acres in the state.
Across his ranches, Turner grew a bison herd of approximately 45,000 head, making him the largest private bison owner in the country. His herd provided meat for his restaurant chain, Ted’s Montana Grill.
Jim Matheson, executive director of the National Bison Association (NBA), said Turner had a lasting impact on the bison industry, pointing not only to his herd size, but also the partnerships involving Turner’s ranches and the Turner Institute of Ecoagriculture.
“His dedication to preserving the natural world and re-establishing bison within those ecosystems speaks to the legacy he leaves behind,” Matheson said. “Bison producers everywhere benefit from the diverse research and herd management lessons produced on Ted’s ranches. More U.S. consumers enjoy the delicious and nutritious taste of bison today because of Ted’s efforts in introducing the meat to the masses through his restaurants.”
His focus on conservation and biodiversity also led Turner to create the Turner Endangered Species Fund in 1997.
In Nebraska, Turner Enterprises and Turner Ranches donated the 79,292-acre McGinley Ranch — which straddles Nebraska and South Dakota — to the Turner Institute of Ecoagriculture. The ranch was set up to work with the Center of Excellence for Bison Studies at South Dakota State University to study “sustainable strategies and techniques for conserving ecosystems, agriculture, and rural communities.”
In 2022, when the institute was created, the news release stated it was possible Turner’s remaining four Nebraska ranches, making up roughly 365,700 acres, could be transferred to the institute in the future. Turner also noted the prospect that the institute could qualify for a property tax exemption under both Nebraska and South Dakota laws, though the institute would not do so.
“I believe that local property taxes provide essential support for services on which our ranches and communities depend. The Institute will continue to pay its share of taxes to support the local communities,” Turner said.
A 2023 article in the Flatwater Free Press highlighted Turner’s land ownership in the state and pointed to conflicts over whether a non-profit could eventually opt to stop paying taxes on the ranch properties. In one county alone, Turner’s annual property taxes were nearly $1 million. Other Nebraska ranchers also expressed frustration when so much land is sold to wealthy out-of-state buyers.
“It’s a burden when people with outside money come in and buy the land for higher than what you could actually support by just running a cow-calf operation,” one rancher said.
Alex Metcalf, a social scientist at the University of Montana, was the lead author earlier this year in a study looking at the concentration of landownership in the state. Increasingly, Montana is seeing its largest tracts of land being owned by a smaller percentage of people. Metcalf said there are social tradeoffs from having the wealthiest people owning such vast tracts of land.
“In some ways, you look at owners like Ted Turner who clearly invested in conservation outcomes, and people can look at that and say that is a good thing. Other people look at the consolidation of these really large properties that have limited public access as something they don’t like,” Metcalf said.
The group Solutions from the Land stated Wednesday that Turner was a longtime backer of the group. The Turner Foundation provided a grant in 2004 that brought together a group of farmers to examine the role of agriculture in energy. That led to the 25x’25 Renewable Energy Alliance, which then evolved to become Solutions from the Land. Turner continued to back the group over the years.
“Ted’s steadfast and unwavering support for our farmer-rancher-forester-led grassroots movement was instrumental in the success we have achieved in shaping the adoption of pragmatic agricultural policies around the world,” the group stated.
Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com
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