Young Beau Turner
Tom Beno
By PETE BODO - New York Times
BOZEMAN, Mont. - Knee-deep in the clear, chilly waters of Cherry Creek, on the
Flying D ranch, Reed Beauregard Turner expertly casts a grasshopper dry-fly
tight to a grassy bank, where pugnacious brown trout lurk. He could hardly be
described as a young man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Actually, the 32-year-old Turner bears the load for only the 1.7 million acres
accumulated since 1987 by his father, the billionaire Ted Turner.
Before then, the elder Turner was perhaps best known for saving nothing more
ecologically significant than a struggling major league baseball team called
the Atlanta Braves. But through his land acquisitions, Ted Turner, 61, has
recast himself as a visionary environmentalist as well as the largest private
landholder in the United States. While he has cranked out the checks at a pace
that invites writer's cramp, the stewardship of those enormous, noncontiguous
ranches and properties scattered mostly through the Western United States has
become the lifework of the second youngest of Turner's five children, the one
known as Beau.
Vaulting out of the family pecking order to become the de facto manager for the
Turner properties, Beau Turner has a daunting mandate: to pursue ranching and
related, sustainable enterprises while promoting conservation, with a bias
toward native species.
On various ranches, the Turners' livestock is bison (over all, their herd
numbers about 30,000 head), which are indigenous to the West but, unlike cows
and sheep, do not graze down to bare earth. The Turners are also working to
restore the endangered prairie dogs - which most ranchers consider vermin - as
well as the black-footed ferret, a predator of prairie dogs.
Breaking rank with most ranchers, the Turners also support the reintroduction
of wolves. They are hoping that the wolves from nearby Yellowstone National
Park will colonize the Flying D, even if some predatory animals will eventually
be shot.
The Turners' vision is taking shape on a vast, closely watched canvas, with
Beau Turner doing most of the brushwork.
"Beau's not just involved with the properties; he's on innumerable boards," his
father said. "His job is to oversee a massive amount of property and to be a
leader in the environmental movement."
Beau Turner is the chairman of the board for the Turner Endangered Species Fund
and a trustee for the family-run Turner Foundation, which awarded almost $50
million in grants last year, almost all of it to environmental groups and
projects.
Arguably, Beau Turner is already the most influential citizen/environmentalist
in the nation. That power occasionally causes him some stress - although not as
much as he experienced as a 10-year-old during the waning days of the Cold War,
when the combination of his father's "negativism" about global politics and
Beau's obsession with world peace caused him to have nightmares about a nuclear
holocaust.
"Sometimes I wake up at night thinking how much is at stake, and realizing how
big this job really is," Beau Turner said recently. "But I love what I do more
than anything else on earth. And what's more important, I remind myself that in
the end it's all about people. I'm working with a great team, and I trust them
so much that it really takes the pressure off and calms me down."
The major parties in the conservation and environmental movements, which span a
broad spectrum of green, recognize the power and wealth that comes along with
the Turner sanction, even though some proactive aspects of the Turners'
operations and their philosophical underpinnings - such as timber harvesting
and big-game hunting - may be at cross-purposes with those organizations'
mission statements.
"Beau, like Ted, seems like a dyed- in-the-wool conservationist," said Donal
O'Brien Jr., chairman of both the National Audubon Society and the Atlantic
Salmon Federation U.S. "They are also very private and individualistic, which
means they don't partner as often with other groups as some might like."
Family, and Friends
The glints of gray that have appeared lately in Turner's dark, lank hair seem
incongruous in someone so fundamentally boyish that he exuberantly describes a
sizable trout as "the mack daddy of the pool," and often addresses any
companion as Bubba. Lanky at 6 feet 2 inches tall, he shares his father's
apparently boundless energy, a penchant for oral - and physical - articulation,
and an inability to express convictions with anything less than undiluted
passion.
"I'm closer to Beau than anyone else, because of our environmental work
together," Ted Turner said. "It's not just about family, it's a working
relation. In fact, I play down the father-son thing, like I do with all my
kids. Beau is a grown man, and I don't want to influence him unduly in a
parent-child context. But that is almost impossible."
Beau acknowledges their similarities.
"I'd say I'm only about 10 percent different from Dad," he said. "And that's
mostly expressed in the things we focus on, and occasionally in politics."
But, Ted Turner said, his son may also have the power to sway him.
"A lot of influence people have is subliminal," the father said. "Maybe I
wouldn't have been as expansive in our real estate acquisitions if I didn't
know there was somebody coming along behind me with an intense love of the
outdoors and the preservation of species."
Beau described his relationship with his father as a "close friendship" that
survived the upheaval all the Turner children endured in 1987, when their
father divorced Jane Smith Turner, the second of his three wives, and the
mother of the three youngest children.
"Divorce is always a shock to a family, but at least we weren't little kids,"
said Beau, who was a sophomore at The Citadel. He remains close with his
mother. "I'm kind of proud that even if I really mess up on something, and Dad
lets me have it, we deal with it like professionals. There aren't all those
hurty feelings like you might have if there were larger family issues involved.
"I think we turned out pretty well rounded. We kids are extremely close" - all
of the Turner children are active trustees for the Turner Foundation - "and we
all work."
Populist and Nature Lover
As a child, Beau Turner worked for every cent he received from his father, and
developed such an interest in finance that he began trading stocks at age 16.
He secured his financial independence during the recent stock-market boom,
which he characterized as a "gold rush" that embodied the American dream: "A
bunch of geeky kids holed up in the basements of their suburban, middle-class
homes wound up becoming the new captains of American industry. I'm a guy who
believes in a strong middle class, and to me it doesn't get any better than
that."
Indeed, with his penchant for hot dogs and Mexican food washed down with
endless cups of convenience- store coffee, and his backslapping, gregarious
manner - in the streets of this friendly, midsize western town, it seems he
never meets a passer-by he does not like - Turner is at heart a populist. He is
a baseball fan who has played catcher, and he expresses a curiosity about golf,
as if unsure that he fits into that sport's demographics.
Beau Turner's wife of about a year, Elizabeth Gannon Hunt, is a contributing
editor for Veranda magazine and, like her husband, an accomplished bowhunter
and angler. They live at the Flying D from May through November in a modest,
one- story log cabin of barely 1,000 square feet. The home is crowded with
framed family photographs and trophies of majestic elk and mule deer.
"We're also renovating an old house we bought in Charleston," Hunt said, adding
almost apologetically: "Being a Texan, the Montana winter is just too harsh for
me."
Turner's cabin does not have a garage for his Ford pickup truck, which he
bought because he believes that Ford is the automaker most committed to
developing alternate fuel vehicles.
"We don't need a bigger house than this," he said. "It's important to live in a
way that complements what you believe."
Ted Turner said his son's love for the environment is not new.
"When Beau was a little boy, he was just fascinated with the outdoors, more so
than the other kids," Ted Turner said. "And not just hunting and fishing, but
observation and the general nature experience."
Yet Beau did not intend to make it his lifework. After quitting the baseball
team at The Citadel to concentrate on his studies (he struggled with learning
disabilities), Beau had his heart set on attending the Wharton School. He had
an 11th-hour change of heart and ended up at Montana State, where he immersed
himself in wildlife biology.
Striking a crooked grin, he confesses that while he has finished all his
coursework, he has yet to write the thesis that would earn him a master's
degree. "Things kind of began to snowball with the properties at the time," he
said, "but I still hope to earn that master's someday."
Leader of the `New West'
Beau Turner is, albeit unofficially, part of a larger movement that is trying
to shape a New West - a place where the traditional cattle rancher and his
livestock are no longer sacred cows, where a chorus of often cacophonous voices
lobby for nonagricultural interests, ranging from increased recreational
opportunities to predator reintroduction to protection of federally held lands
from logging to low-fee cattle grazing.
In this equation, Turner, who considers himself bipartisan, is broadly
conservative.
Citing the beliefs of his father and Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder, Turner
argues that the rich should bear a relatively heavy tax load. He also contends
that inheritance taxes are driving the struggling ranches out of business and
subsequently opening up too much environmentally sensitive land to development.
Turner believes that providing landowners with tax incentives to promote
conservation and species protection will produce better results than federal
land acquisition programs.
"The government always ends up paying exorbitant prices for land," he said,
"and it has virtually no ability to manage what it has. Huge tracts of
government-owned land currently are being environmentally degraded, by
everything from federally supported logging to invasive, noxious weeds.
"Private stewardship generally is more successful."
Mostly, though, Turner likes to repeat his mantra: "It's all about the people."
In the course of poring over thousands of applications for help from the Turner
Foundation, he says, he has learned to sniff out agendas that are rooted in
self-interest rather than good science. His deepest wish, he says, is to see
biology become the trusted compass for the environmental movement.
"There's way too much bickering among people both outside and within the broad
environmental movement - between the backpackers and ranchers, the
animal-rights advocates, preservationists, hunters and all the rest," he said.
"You just have to let go of your prejudices and keep your mind open. Let the
biology decide, and remain open to what it's telling you and where that might
lead.
"Sure, science is inexact. But right now, it's still the most reliable thing
we have."
john smith
>> the world for my personal use too. And I would
>> support every whacko enviro cause that I thought
>> would make my personal kingdom less trampled
>> by humans, other humans not me of course.
>>
>> If this guy is one of your heros, then you are one
>> sick puppy, probably a Florida voter.
>>
"Tom Beno" <tom...@oz.net> wrote in message
news:8vu1lh$l5u$0...@216.39.133.53...
john smith
Terrible post Mr. Beno, much better to engage in
honest dialog even when we may disagree on subject.
"Tom Beno" <tom...@oz.net> wrote in message
news:8vu1lh$l5u$0...@216.39.133.53...
badwolf
Uh, Jane and Ted are divorced. Apparently Jane found Jesus.
Ted is my favorite rancher, someone who is willing to think afresh
about how the land should be managed. I had never heard of Beau. . .
sounds like a fellow with my kind of values.
Thanks for sharing the info, Tom.
In article <3a24c...@oracle.zianet.com>, jo...@gilanet.com says...
> Have no use for the entire clan, nor Hanoi Jane either!
> Terrible post Mr. Beno, much better to engage in
> honest dialog even when we may disagree on subject.
>
> "Tom Beno" <tom...@oz.net> wrote in message
> news:8vu1lh$l5u$0...@216.39.133.53...
vzn05ze0
badwolf wrote:
> Uh, Jane and Ted are divorced. Apparently Jane found Jesus.
>
> Ted is my favorite rancher, someone who is willing to think afresh
> about how the land should be managed. I had never heard of Beau. . .
> sounds like a fellow with my kind of values.
>
> Thanks for sharing the info, Tom.
Teddy has destroyed more natural wildlife than any person alive in the
past 100 years because of the NON NATIVE wolves.
As for Hanoi Jane she can kiss the ass of every American even after she
goes to hell.!
In my opinion they made a great pair, Kill everything that is good on
this planet is both their mottos.
What was your point?
L O U P
LOL I didn't know he was lost ...
= )
Sorry in a frisky mood, just got back from Tennessee and my visit with the
wolves. Had a wonderful time but came home to snow .. can you believe it?
Weather was pleasant in the mountains and freaking freezing and snowing here
at the beach ... ah nature = )
LOUPY
--
Do you think Santa is so jolly because he knows where all of the bad girls
live?
loupm...@home.com
ICQ - 452931
http://www.wolfsource.org