Ted Turner Buying up Nebraska - Not Necessarily Bad

It was just announced that media mogul and founder of the Cable News Network (CNN) Ted Turner bought nearly 60,000 acres of Nebraska's sandhills. Turner said he plans to use the extra land to raise bison for his chain of restaurants. Many Nebraskans are upset that Turner continues to buy up land in Nebraska. In the past he has purchased thousands upon thousands of acres out in the sandhills. But is this bad for Nebraska? Is this merely a continuation of corporate takeover of farms and land in Nebraska? Possibly. But I don't see this as a negative for Nebraska.

The sandhills, while beautiful in the summertime, offer little value other than grazeland for cattle, or in this case bison. Turner has paid a fair price for the land and will use it for the best purpose- grazing. However, it is a little scary that the largest landowner in Nebraska (Turner) is not a Nebraskan. Oh well, as long as he doesn't insist on making horrible Civil War movies (Gods and Generals) in Nebraska, I think we'll be okay. For the time being though, I think he's got other things to worry about, like rescuing his fledgling CNN.

For info on Turner's newest Nebraska purchase:
http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2005/03/17/local/doc4239dadcd8e17420711333.txt