Published Thursday | February 7, 2008
Turner 'almost done' buying up ranchland
BY PAUL HAMMEL
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
The "Mouth of the South" might be mellowing, at least in terms of his appetite for ranchland in Nebraska.
CNN founder Ted Turner is the largest private landowner in Nebraska and the United States and the nation's largest bison rancher. His five ranches in Nebraska cover 425,221 acres, an area larger than Douglas and Sarpy Counties combined. Here, a young bison crosses a stream on a Turner ranch north of Lewellen.CNN founder Ted Turner, the largest private landowner in Nebraska and the United States and the nation's largest bison rancher, said Wednesday that he is about done buying new ranches.
He said he would like to reach 2 million acres nationwide before he dies — about 40,000 acres more than he currently owns.
"I'm almost done. I've got enough," said Turner, who was visiting Omaha for the reopening and renaming of one of his 54 bison restaurants, now called Ted's Nebraska Grill.
The 69-year-old billionaire, philanthropist and conservationist said he isn't interested in free-standing ranches anymore, only "reasonably priced" parcels adjacent to his current operations, which include five ranches in Nebraska near Gordon, Oshkosh and Mullen. The ranches cover 425,221 acres, an area larger than Douglas and Sarpy Counties combined.
"You know what 2 million acres is?" Turner asked over a plate of bison miniburgers and transfat-free onion rings. "If my land was all connected, in one long straight line, a mile deep, it would stretch from New York to San Francisco."
Then he joked: "I've been thinking about doing some swaps. I'd be able to cut the United States in half and charge people from going from the north to the south."
In a half-hour interview, Turner answered questions on a broad range of subjects — his political preferences, the profitability of bison, his shrinking fortune and conspiracy theories that he is buying Nebraska land to corral the best chunks of the Ogallala Aquifer.
Turner, known for his efforts to help the environment and endangered species, rolled his eyes when asked if he planned to sell water rights on his Nebraska ranches.
"I've never sold any water rights to anyone and don't intend to," he said.
Many in Nebraska's Sand Hills and Panhandle worry that Turner's land eventually will become a buffalo park, taking it off the tax rolls and shifting more of the tax burden to them.
Duane Kime of Nenzel is one of Turner's neighbors. Kime's ranch is surrounded on three sides by Turner property. Three times in recent years, Kime said, Turner's representatives have outbid him for land to expand his family-operated cattle ranch.
Still, the Nebraska rancher said, he gets along well with Turner's property managers.
They've worked out several land swaps. Kime has cut hay on Turner land, and Kime leases 28,000 acres that he lost last July to a Turner bid.
"I can't say that I like that he's buying up all the land, but he's got the right to do it," Kime said. "You can't compete if he wants the land."
Turner said his life has changed a great deal since he bought his first Nebraska ranch in 1995. He lost CNN and was divorced from his wife, actress Jane Fonda. He no longer owns the Atlanta Braves baseball club and the Atlanta Hawks basketball team.
His fortune, upward of $7 billion at one point, has shrunk to between $1 billion and $2 billion, he said. Part of that decline is due to a record $1 billion gift to the United Nations.
But, Turner said, "I didn't quit. I'm still in business."
Turner's name isn't in the headlines as much anymore. His focus has changed from running a media empire to fighting global warming and nuclear weapons and controlling population growth, as well as overseeing his restaurants, known outside Omaha as Ted's Montana Grill.
The Omaha restaurant, near 136th and California Streets, is a test to see if a more diverse menu — one featuring Omaha Steaks as well as bison — will draw more diners. It also will test demand for more locally obtained food.
Every food item that Americans eat is shipped an average of 1,000 miles, Turner said. By buying locally whenever possible, the Omaha restaurant will reduce greenhouse gases, he said.
The name change to Ted's Nebraska Grill might "shake things up" and get more people to try the restaurant, he said.
Omaha once had two Montana Grills. The remaining Turner restaurant sells about 50 percent beef and 50 percent bison — more beef than at any other Turner restaurant.
"Nebraska beef is world famous," said George McKerrow, Jr., Turner's restaurant partner.
"We're going to have a lot of beef here. That's the best of both worlds."