MULLEN, Neb. — Ted Turner has amassed 2 million acres over the past two decades, including nearly 54.5 square miles in Colorado, to become the largest private landowner in the country. He owns large chunks of land in 11 states, mostly in New Mexico, Nebraska, Montana and South Dakota, and is restoring buffalo, cutthroat trout, wolves, black- footed ferrets and other flora and fauna.
His people say their boss just wants to be a rancher. But each big buy prompts conspiracy theories, the most ominous of which hold that Turner wants to put Nebraska ranchers and farmers out of business.
Among the theories: Turner is trying to corner the land over the Ogallala Aquifer, the world’s largest underground water system, to gain power in the water-starved West.
Or: He is scheming to create a vast wildlife refuge and turn it over to the federal government, removing the land from Nebraska’s tax rolls. The Associated Press
Turner’s land
CNN founder Ted Turner’s land holdings, in acres, as of mid-September:
New Mexico: 1,105,905
Nebraska: 425,221
Montana: 153,963
South Dakota: 141,357
Kansas: 42,479
Oklahoma: 41,689
Colorado: 34,868
Florida: 29,530
South Carolina: 10,757
Arkansas: 1,323
Georgia: 537
Source: Turner Enterprises
