Ted Turner Leaves Legacy of Vast Acreage He Pledged to Conserve

Ted Turner might be most closely associated with Atlanta, but the “Mouth of the South” carved out a far different legacy thousands of miles removed from urban boardrooms as a steward of American land.

Turner, who died Wednesday at the age of 87, owned 2 million acres (809,370 hectares) spanning the Southeast, the Great Plains and the West, making him the fourth-largest landowner in the US, according to the Land Report. Turner’s holdings comprise mostly large, contiguous tracts and are managed with the aim of making them both economically viable and ecologically sustainable.