{
  "id": 5366204,
  "title": "How Ted Turner transformed his $21M Montana ranch",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/03/how-ted-turner-transformed-his-21m-montana-ranch",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-03T16:09:41.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Economic Times",
    "slug": "the-economic-times",
    "url": "https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/in-1989cnn-founder-ted-turner-bought-a-113613-acre-montana-ranch-and-made-a-radical-change-that-transformed-the-land/articleshow/133740688.cms"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In 1989, media mogul and CNN founder Ted Turner acquired the colossal Flying D Ranch in Montana for roughly $21 million. Rather than maintaining it as a conventional cattle ranch, Turner opted to remove the cattle, remove hundreds of miles of barbed wire fencing, and begin transforming the land around bison instead. Nearly four decades later, the ranch bears little resemblance to the operation Turner purchased. It now hosts around 4,500 bison across 113,613 acres of southwestern Montana.\n\nThe Flying D Ranch sits between the Gallatin and Madison rivers, south of Bozeman. Prior to Turner's acquisition, the property functioned as a significant cattle ranch, supporting between 7,000 to 8,000 cattle at its height. Overgrazing had taken a toll in certain areas, leaving creek bottoms and grasslands battered by years of use.\n\nTurner envisioned bison as the primary grazing animal on the expansive Montana property. To facilitate this transition, he removed the cattle and dismantled hundreds of miles of interior barbed wire fencing, enabling bison to roam more freely across the landscape. Bison, which once played a substantial role in North American grasslands, have grazing patterns that differ from cattle. Research has demonstrated that bison grazing can boost native plant species richness and influence vegetation and habitats differently compared to cattle.\n\nTurner's experiment in reintroducing bison to the Flying D Ranch did not unfold precisely as anticipated. While the animals were initially given more freedom to roam, some areas of the expansive landscape became overgrazed while others were underutilized. Consequently, additional fencing had to be reinstated to manage the distribution of bison across the 113,613-acre property. Hence, the Flying D Ranch did not metamorphose into an entirely unmanaged wilderness but remained a working ranch where the bison were privately owned and actively managed.\n\nToday, the Flying D Ranch is part of a larger bison operation under Turner Enterprises. The company states that its herds across 13 ranches total roughly 45,000 bison, making it the world's largest private bison herd. The Flying D also encompasses restored former cropland, with more than 5,000 acres returned to grazing land. A conservation easement safeguards the landscape as open space, making the ranch an unusual blend of conservation project and active agricultural operation. Turner's transformation of the Flying D Ranch demonstrates what can be achieved when substantial private land is managed with a different philosophy. While it is not untouched wilderness and may not be a replicable model for most landowners, the Flying D Ranch stands as a striking example of how one person's substantial investment can convert a conventional cattle ranch into one of America's most unique privately managed bison landscapes.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Economic Times",
        "title": "How Ted Turner transformed his $21M ranch",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/03/how-ted-turner-transformed-his-21m-ranch",
        "published": "2026-09-03T16:09:41.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}