The Nature Conservancy is the second largest land owner (119,000,000 acres, yes 119 million acres!!) in the United States, right behind the U. S. Federal Government. More than all native indian tribes. Way more than the largest private land owner (~ 2.0M acres). Why is that? Their charter is to buy and turn it over to the Feds so the public can use it, but that rarely happens. Recently a scandal with The Nature Conservancy had them selling land to trustees and supporters. We've personally seen that happen in South Dakota. In Fall River County, they won't let the public on their land, claiming they are keeping the land pristine. Except they have a bunkhouse on the premises that trustees and donors frequently use as their private playground.
