Honoring Ted Turner’s Lasting Conservation Legacy

I first met Ted Turner in the early 2000s, not long after I started working at the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. Spending a day exploring his 113,000-acre Flying D Ranch opened my young mind to what one very determined individual could accomplish for nature. I vividly remember bison and elk roaming beautiful meadows, and a mother bear and cubs nosing along a creek bottom. Ted and his ranch manager proudly pointed out the lack of fences on the ranch, allowing wildlife to move more naturally across a vast landscape that looked nearly identical to Yellowstone National Park. Ted’s natural charisma and witty sense of humor were magnetic, and he exuded a love for land and wildlife. 

Ted Turning walking his horse on the Flying D Ranch in Montana. (Photo Elena Cizmaric)

The Greater Yellowstone Coalition joins many others in honoring the life and legacy of Ted Turner, a visionary whose impact in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and around the world will endure for generations. A pioneering businessman and philanthropist, Ted brought that same bold, unconventional spirit to conservation. Through his ownership of iconic ranch properties, including the Flying D near Bozeman, Montana, Ted demonstrated what large-scale, private land conservation could achieve. He protected his expansive lands from future development through conservation easements, restored degraded habitats, and reintroduced herds of bison and populations of imperiled cutthroat trout. In 1990, Ted received GYC’s Stewardship Award in recognition of his many efforts to protect and restore land in Greater Yellowstone and across the West. 

Ted joined GYC’s Board of Directors in 1991 and served for many years before transitioning to an emeritus role, which he held until his passing. He brought an unwavering belief in the importance of protecting this remarkable place. Through the Turner Foundation, Ted and his family helped advance critical conservation work across the region. That work and legacy continue today. For years, Ted graciously hosted events for GYC at the Flying D Ranch. Many of our supporters have fond memories of touring the ranch with Ted and listening to him advocate for living in harmony with nature and each other.  

Ted and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition’s deputy director Melissa Richey at an event on the Flying D Ranch. (Photo GYC)

Ted with former Greater Yellowstone Coalition executive director Caroline Byrd after receiving the Sargent Award in 2017. (Photo GYC)

Ted Turner believed in thinking big and acting boldly in the service of the natural world. In 2016, I took a walk with Ted to an overlook on the Flying D where he reflected on how different the land looked and felt after his years of work to protect and restore it. As we stared out at a sliver of the sprawling Flying D’s 177 square miles, I could hardly fathom the scale of his impact. The next year, GYC presented Ted with the Sargent Award, an honor given to only twelve people over the past 43 years, in recognition of his outstanding dedication to protecting Greater Yellowstone. Ted’s legacy is not only measured in acres conserved or fish and wildlife restored, but in the example he set—that individuals can play a transformative role in shaping the future of landscapes they love. 

We are deeply grateful for Ted’s leadership, his support, and his enduring commitment to the lands, waters, and wildlife of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. 

—Scott Christensen, Executive Director (Bozeman, MT)