Why Ted Turner’s approach to conservation is the mindset America desperately needs right now

As we bid farewell to Ted Turner, most people will remember him as the media giant who launched CNN and changed television news forever. Or the man who transformed the Atlanta Braves into “America’s Team” in the late 1970s.

But one of Turner’s most significant contributions had nothing to do with cable news or billion-dollar deals. It was about bison and trout and longleaf pines, and it was about the idea that if you’re lucky enough to own a piece of this country, you should leave it better than you found it.

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At a time when America’s public lands and wildlife habitats are increasingly threatened by development, shrinking conservation budgets and political battles over land use, Turner has stood apart from many ultra-rich Americans.

Because he actually put his money where his mouth was. And not in a performative way like, “I bought carbon offsets for my private jet.”

Instead, Ted Turner purchased a large amount of land and worked for decades to restore it.

Turner ultimately amassed nearly 2 million acres of land in the United States, making him one of the largest private landowners in America. But unlike many wealthy investors who bought farms as status symbols or hunting playgrounds, Turner viewed his properties as restoration projects.

I AM A CONSERVATIVE FARMER. WE NEED TO PROTECT HEDGE FUNDS

His intention was to keep these places “as natural as possible”.

This meant limiting pesticides, rebuilding native habitats, and eliminating invasive species. He also planted more than a million longleaf pine trees in the South because, as Turner puts it bluntly, “historically we have logged all of them, and they are a critical part of the environment in this part of the world.”

This also meant protecting the animals that called the land home.

Turner helped restore populations of red-cockaded woodpeckers, native brook trout species, prairie dogs, Mexican gray wolves and Bolson tortoises.

And of course there were bison. Lots of bison.

Ted Turner and Sam Donaldson appear together on Primetime Live, which aired on November 3, 1997. (Jerry Fitzgerald/Disney General Entertainment Content)

Turner became the owner of the world’s largest private bison herd, consisting of approximately 45,000 animals spread across multiple ranches. But even this wasn’t just an eccentric billionaire’s hobby. He thought the species was critical to revitalizing the ecology of the Great Plains because bison graze differently than cattle and naturally help restore grassland ecosystems.

That’s the thing about Turner’s conservation approach. He was never passive. He did not believe that “protection” meant simply locking up the land and admiring it from afar. He believed that people had an obligation to actively repair damage that had already been done.

And frankly, that’s a mindset we could use a lot more of right now.

We lost the conservation issue

Whether you lean left or right, conservation should not be political. Protecting wildlife habitats should not be controversial. Keeping rivers fishable and forests healthy should not be controversial.

And preserving America’s natural beauty for future generations should certainly be a non-negotiable.

For decades, conservation was actually one of the most bipartisan ideas in the country. Theodore Roosevelt practically built the modern conservation movement. Hunters and fishermen financed wildlife restoration through licenses and excise taxes. Farmers, outdoorsmen, and environmentalists often found common ground in protecting the lands on which they depend.

But somewhere along the way conservation became embroiled in broader political culture wars.

Despite his outspoken views on climate issues, Turner approached conservation in a much more grounded and practical way. He talked about restoring habitats, protecting species, managing land responsibly, supporting clean water, and restoring ecosystems that humans have damaged through overdevelopment and neglect.

These are ideas that most Americans can still get behind, especially those who spend time outdoors.

Turner also understood that conservation and the public interest did not have to be mutually exclusive.

Ted Turner left a lasting legacy on his land

Some of Turner’s properties have become what he calls “purpose vacations,” where tourism revenues fund conservation efforts. Luxury lodges and guest experiences on their reserves have helped keep vast tracts of land intact and undeveloped.

This is huge. Because one of the biggest threats to wildlife habitat in America today is fragmentation. We see this when farms become subdivisions. Forests are turning into shopping malls. Open lands slowly crumble into acres until animal migration corridors disappear and ecosystems stop working as they should.

Ted Turner helps a biologist release two wolves on his Ladder Ranch property. (William Campbell/Sygma)

Turner realized that once that land was gone, we couldn’t get it back.

While most of us will never own millions of acres like him, the broader lesson still applies.

Real protection doesn’t mean chaining yourself to a tree, throwing soup on tables, or yelling at people on social media.

This means planting native species rather than tearing them out. It means supporting organizations that protect wildlife habitats. And that means teaching your kids to fish, hunt, hike, and appreciate the outdoors enough to want to protect it too someday.

Turner once said, “If you work to help others or make the world better, you will be much happier than if all you do is try to make things better for yourself.”

CNN founder Ted Turner attends a screening of “Cold War: The Complete Series” at the Paley Center for Media in New York City on April 29, 2012. (Matthew Eisman/WireImage)

For everything the man achieved in his 87 years of life – and it was a lot – this may be the simplest and most enduring part of his legacy.

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Not CNN, the Braves or TBS. But the land he helped restore and the wildlife that still exists because he cared enough to preserve it.

The world needs more Ted Turners.