Over a lifetime, CNN founder Ted Turner has dedicated two million private acres to a globally unparalleled project to reintroduce and restore the species that once roamed freely there.
Ted Turner was for many years the largest private-property owner in America and known for his establishment of the largest bison herds in the world. From this beginning, his holdings have grown to be refuges of biodiversity for some of the most endangered species in the world, from migratory birds to fish and insects, and from wolves to grizzly bears.
Rhett Turner explores his father's devotion to leaving nature in better shape than he found it by taking us across nearly two dozen of the Turner family's properties – from the northern Rockies to the prairies of the Dakotas to the southeastern Atlantic coastal plains and pine forests – land equal to the size of Yellowstone National Park.
Rhett Turner is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker. Turner cut his teeth in photojournalism as an editor at CNNs Tokyo news bureau. Todd Wilkinson has been an environmental journalist and author for thirty-five years. He is a Western correspondent for National Geographic and the Guardian and the author of several acclaimed books, including Last Stand: Ted Turners Quest to Save a Troubled Planet. Former President Jimmy Carter is an American philanthropist, former politician, and businessman who served as the thirty-ninth president of the United States from 1977 to 1981.
"At one time, CNN founder Ted Turner was the largest private-property owner in America and owned the largest bison herds in the world. His dedication to leaving nature in better condition than he found it is photographed by his son, Rhett Turner, in a new book. The work takes readers on a journey to nearly two dozen of Turner's properties located in the northern Rocky Mountains, the prairies of the Dakotas and the southeastern Atlantic coastal plains and pine forests"
– Mountain Living
"Rhett's amazing photographs shot on 23 Turner family properties [...] celebrate Ted's historic conservation efforts across two million acres, ranging from the Rocky Mountains and Dakota prairies to the foothills and coastal plains of the Southeast. Rhett's dramatic landscape images and wildlife portraits illustrate ways in which private land stewardship, practiced for the benefit of native species and done in an economically sustainable way, can be successful."
– Cowboys & Indians
"Conserving America's Wildlands: The Vision of Ted Turner features Rhett's photographs shot on 23 Turner family properties. The show runs through most of March. Cartersville is a short, interesting drive from Big Canoe, and you'll find great dining options to complete your day of adventure."
– Smokesignals.com