WHAT MISCHIEF IS TED TURNER UP TO WITH HIS LAND PURCHASES? [+] ballot by Kev24 created Thu Nov 29, 07 MULLEN, Neb. (Nov. 29) - Ted Turner's men didn't flinch. As the price climbed past $8 million, $9 million, $9.5 million, they continued bidding at a rapid-fire pace. When the auction was over, they walked away with what they came for: 26,300 acres of prime ranch land, at a cost of nearly $10 million. "It hasn't taken long to find out he's serious," said Duane Kime, a rancher and Turner neighbor who was outbid by about $100,000 by the CNN founder. But what exactly is Turner serious about? The question gnaws at folks here and in other rural areas of the country where people once thought the billionaire just wanted to play cowboy. Turner has amassed 2 million acres over the past two decades to become the largest private landowner in the country. He owns large chunks of land in 11 states, with most of his holdings in New Mexico, Nebraska, Montana and South Dakota, and is restoring buffalo, cutthroat trout, wolves, black-footed ferrets and other flora and fauna that filled the Plains before the West was won. His front men say their boss doesn't have a secret agenda - he just wants to be a rancher. But each big buy only heightens the anxiety and gives rise to conspiracy theories, the most ominous of which hold that the swashbuckling Atlanta executive is bent on putting Nebraska ranchers and farmers out of business. "With him it's such a concern," said Cindy Weller, who lives on the family ranch near Mullen. "You don't know what his plan is and what he's going to do." What's Your Take? Among the theories: Turner is trying to corner the land over the Ogallala Aquifer, the world's largest underground water system, to gain power in the water-starved West. Or: He is scheming, perhaps with the United Nations, to create a vast wildlife refuge and turn it over to the federal government, removing the land from Nebraska's tax rolls. That could hurt Nebraska schools and other services, which are already starved for cash. is ted a meglomaniac with a dark and evil agenda, or does he just want to be a racher? ted's an ole' cow-poke who just wants to so some ranchin' ted's the devil Ballot #119551 : SEE RESULTS Comment: show your vote with comment?

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