Post by Poor Richard on Jul 29, 2022 6:50:38 GMT -7
Billionaire-funded eco group quietly taking farmland out of production in Montana
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen slammed AP for what he called its surreptitious plan to create an "American Serengeti" where "liberal coastal elites can come and hang out and look at the pretty animals." The attorney general added that his office is closely reviewing the Biden administration's decision Thursday to determine its next steps to protect ranchers and the state's interests.
Fox News reports:
"The American Prairie (AP), a conservation project in Montana, has quietly scooped up more than 450,000 acres of land with the help of its billionaire donors and the federal government.
The little-known project aims to create the largest "fully functioning ecosystem" in the continental U.S. by stitching together about 3.2 million acres of private and public lands, according to the American Prairie Foundation, which founded the reserve more than 20 years ago. The group has recorded 34 transactions spanning roughly 453,188 acres of land throughout central Montana — much of which were once used for farming and grazing — since 2004 and continues to aggressively expand.
"Our mission is to assemble the largest complex of public and private lands devoted to wildlife in the lower 48," Pete Geddes, AP's vice president and chief external relations officer, told Fox News Digital in an interview. "For comparison, about 25% larger than Yellowstone."
Read the full story here.
The little-known project aims to create the largest "fully functioning ecosystem" in the continental U.S. by stitching together about 3.2 million acres of private and public lands, according to the American Prairie Foundation, which founded the reserve more than 20 years ago. The group has recorded 34 transactions spanning roughly 453,188 acres of land throughout central Montana — much of which were once used for farming and grazing — since 2004 and continues to aggressively expand.
"Our mission is to assemble the largest complex of public and private lands devoted to wildlife in the lower 48," Pete Geddes, AP's vice president and chief external relations officer, told Fox News Digital in an interview. "For comparison, about 25% larger than Yellowstone."
Read the full story here.