America's Biggest Owner Of Farmland Is Now Bill Gates - Forbes Heres a Maine fact you may not know: Vacationlands well-known federal- and state-owned public landsincluding Acadia National Park, Baxter State Park, and the Bigelow Preserveaccount for just 5 percent of the states forests. The company produced lumber products and managed property development and mining. 1.9 million acres. Collectively they claim 7.8 billion acres. At its peak, paper companiessuch as Great Northern and Oxfordowned more than half of Maines land area, according to Hillard. Whether you go for real estate investments or go all-in on the more raw forms like farmland investing or land from the get-go, youre going to reap the benefits. But its also a thrill for folks like me who daydream about those featured 100,000-acre ranches with cold trout streams sluicing through them. Image: Turner Enterprises The world's total land mass consists of 36.8. Have some feedback for us? St. Joe Co. headquarters is in Watersound, Florida, which sits just outside Panama City Beach, Florida. The Nature Conservancy purchased roughly 1,000 acres of forest land in Southern Ohio, bringing it closer to establishing an undisturbed wildlife corridor along the Ohio River. Read More about Farmland:Bill Gates, Farmland, And Everything You Want to Know About Investing in It.Top 5 Farmland Investing Platforms And Reviews To Amp Up Your Portfolio. The Biedenharn family, based in Louisiana, owns around 50,000 acres of land in the state. I tend to be more willing to admit that human beings arent going away.. How the Mormon Church Beat Bill Gates in a Battle Over Farmland The W.D. These investments are often part of institutional funds, which explains why Yale University, for example, is indirectly one of Maine's largest landowners. Much like with any other investment, the sooner you put your foot in, the sooner you can start capitalizing on compound interest and seeing a return on your investment. Background: One of the last "Absolute Monarchs" in the world, King Mswati quite literally owns all of his Southern African nation. All Rights Reserved. The Molpus Woodlands Group owns 273,000 acres. When you close on a property, you acquire the rights to possession, control, exclusion, enjoyment, and disposition. The Martin Family 5. This is spread out across Wisconsin (1,188 acres), Florida (14,828 acres), Washington (16,097 acres) and North Carolina (874 acres). The big landowners own piles of the land itself so thats what well focus on today. The State of Hawaii owns the most land, with Kamehameha Schools owning 363,000 acres. As part of Weyerhaeuser, this company owns 415,000 acres in Florida, ranking them number three on the list of Floridas largest landowners. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider America's Largest Landowners - Forbes Public access on private land is a longstanding tradition in Maine, and implied permission is written into state law: unless posted otherwise by the landowner, it is legal to access the land. Background: England's third (and most likely soon to be second) longest serving monarch, Elizabeth II retains royal title over The British Commonwealth and as such manages to keep her face on money throughout the globe. Ted Turner 2.0 million acres / 0.81 million ha / twice as large as Rhode Island, Emmerson family 2.0 million acres / 0.81 million ha / 3rd of the size of New Hampshire, Reed family 1.7 million acres / 0.69 million ha / half the size of Connecticut, Stan Kroenke 1.4 million acres / 0.57 million ha / roughly equal to the size of Prince Edward Island, Irving family 1.2 million acres / 0.49 million ha / large as Anchorage in Alaska, Brad Kelley 1.2 million acres / 0.49 million ha / twice the size of Jacksonville in Florida, Singleton family 1.1 million acres / 0.45 million ha / three times the size of Houston, Peter Buck 925 thousand acres / 374 thousand ha/three-quarters of Grand Canyon National Park, King Ranch heirs 911.2 thousand acres / 368.7 thousand ha / three times the size of Los Angeles. WATCH: Sharks biting alligators, the most epic lion battles, and MUCH more. Value of Private Land in the U.S. Mapped - Vivid Maps The company is committed to sustainable forestry practices. Inc. owns 5,500 acres for conservation purposes. But it can be complicated, especially for visitors to the state, to understand how this unique system works. It owns around 2.6 million acres of land, which accounts for about 9% of the state's total land area. The fifth-largest private landowner in the US is a real estate mogul, so its no surprise that Stan Kroenke saw the benefits of land ownership long before many. Eric OKeefeis the editor of The Land Report, the magazine of the American landowner. Check out The Land Reports entire issue and list here. In this article, we will discuss the top 10 landowners in Louisiana and their impact on the state's economy and environment. The recent purchase was the conservation groups largest in Ohio. [15] Since its 2007 launch, O'Keefe has served as editor-in-chief and Rider the publisher.