2016 Land Report 100: Ted Turner

No. 2 Ted Turner

2,000,000+ acres (down 43,000 acres)
In June, Turner Ranches sold the 43,000-acre Bluestem Ranch in Oklahoma to the Osage Nation for $74 million. During Turner’s 15-year ownership tenure, the Bluestem produced bison to restock herds on Turner Ranches in Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, and North Dakota. The acquisition proved especially poignant for the 20,190 Osage. “This is the same land our ancestors walked 100 years ago,” said Osage Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear. “We are working with the federal government to expedite a process which will return this land to federal Indian reservation status. This means this land will be held in federal trust for us, the Osage living today, and for the generations to come. We cannot ever again be separated from this land and our heritage.”