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E-mail a friendYOUNG VOICES
Ted Turner's Wild West Show
Tonight's guest, the billionaire media mogul, CNN creator and noted philanthropist, has gained much recognition in his life for his Midas touch when it comes to business. So when he decided to get into ranching, there were probably a few raised eyebrows. At first, anyway.
After buying up close to two million acres of pristine western ranchland in New Mexico and Montana, making him the largest private landowner in the country, Turner has set his sights not on conventional ranching, but on conservation.
Rather than keeping the cattle that roamed his land and raising them for their meat as the previous ranchers had, Turner sold them off and turned the land over to herds of majestic American buffalo. Because he can't do anything in a small way, Turner's herd is now the largest privately-owned one in America, and he is using them to pioneer a new way of raising livestock.
The American prairies and buffalo evolved together. Unlike cattle, which were imported from elsewhere and are very picky when it comes to what they'll eat, buffalo happily feed on the native plants and grasses, making them more or less self-sufficient. This not only benefits the rancher, who doesn't have to shell out for feed, it benefits the animals, who grow strong and health by eating the things they were designed to eat. It also benefits the land itself, which is continually mowed, sowed and fertilized by the grazing herds.
Unlike many of his other ventures, which have continually moved us technologically into the future, Turner's plan for his ranches is to turn back the clock and return the land to its natural state. There is a business end to it, also, of course. Turner charges big game hunters $12,000 a week to stalk elk on his land and sells his buffalo meat to a chain of restaurants he founded for the purpose.
Ted's Montana Grill (motto: "Eat great. Do good.") is a national chain with more than 55 restaurants from Nebraska to Florida. It prides itself on being a leader in environmentally-sound American cuisine, eschewing plastic packaging and installing low-voltage lighting in its locations.
Turner is one of America's most famous businessmen, and, as such, he is in a unique position to prove that business can be both “green” and profitable. As an example to businesspeople everywhere, Turner's ranches and restaurants are showing that yes, it can be done.