This nation’s top 100 land barons own a chunk of this country the size of Wisconsin.
That’s right. While the average homeowner struggles to pay for a home on less than one acre of land, 100 individuals and families own a combined 34,197, 232 acres, according to the Land Report.
Luckily for Idahoans, we have access to millions of acres of public land. For that, we are incredibly fortunate.
But not everybody wants average people to have access to land. A movement to “take the land back” through privatization is threatening the West.
Even GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz said he wants to make Idaho more like Texas where 2 percent of the land is public. Cruz also lamented that 2 percent was too much.
If these ownership numbers are mind-boggling, just think what they will be if people like Ted Cruz get their way and our public land is sold to the highest bidder.
Idaho connections are highlighted and hyperlinked.
Owner Acreage
| 1. John Malone | 2,200,000 |
| 2. Ted Turner | 2,000,000 |
| 3. Emmerson Family | 1,915,000 |
| 4. Brad Kelley | 1,500,000 |
| 5. Reed Family | 1,370,000 |
| 6. Irving Family | 1,250,000 |
| 7. Singleton Family | 1,100,000 |
| 8. King Ranch Heirs | 911,215 |
| 9. Stan Kroenke | 848,631 |
| 10. Pingree Heirs | 830,000 |
| 11. Ford Family | 625,000 |
| 12. Lykes Heirs | 615,000 |
| 13. Briscoe Family | 560,000 |
| 14. W.T. Waggoner Estate | 535,000 |
| 15. O’Connor Heirs | 500,000 |
| 16. Wilks Brothers | 500,000 |
| 17. Simplot Family | 443,591 |
| 18. Philip Anshutz | 434,500 |
| 19. Drummond Family | 433,000 |
| 20. Holding Family | 400,000 |
| 21. Hughes Family | 390,000 |
| 22. Malone Mitchell III | 384,000 |
| 23. D.R. Horton | 317,805 |
| 24. Collins Family | 310,472 |
| 25. Nunley Brothers | 301,500 |
| 26. Jeff Bezos | 290,000 |
| 27. Mike Smith | 286,066 |
| 28. Collier Family | 280,000 |
| 29. Kokernot Heirs | 278,000 |
| 30. Anne Marion | 275,000 |
| 31. Babbitt Heirs | 270,000 |
| 32. Hughes Abell | 265,000 |
| 33. Lyda Family | 260,035 |
| 34. Jones Family | 255,000 |
| 35. Killam Family | 255,000 |
| 36. True Family | 255,000 |
| 37. Reynolds Family | 250,000 |
| 38. Paul Fireman | 247,000 |
| 39. D.K. Boyd | 244,332 |
| 40. Koch Family | 239,000 |
| 41. Riggs Family | 236,317 |
| 42. Kenedy Memoria Foundation | 235,000 |
| 43. Bidegain Family | 225,000 |
| 44. Scott Family | 220,000 |
| 45. Louis Bacon | 218,331 |
| 46. East Wildlife Foundation | 215,729 |
| 47. Hearst Family | 214,000 |
| 48. Gage Heirs | 213,730 |
| 49. Cassidy Heirs | 212,985 |
| 50. Langdale Family | 200,000 |
| 51. Eugene Gabrych | 200,000 |
| 52. Hunt Family | 200,000 |
| 53. Bogle Family | 182,000 |
| 54. Williams Family | 181,000 |
| 55. Robert A. Funk | 175,000 |
| 56. McCoy & Remme Families | 174,300 |
| 57. Russell Gordy | 170,129 |
| 58. Broadbent Family | 170,000 |
| 59. Irwin Heirs | 170,000 |
| 60. Sugg Family | 166,655 |
| 61. Fasken Family | 165,000 |
| 62. Mike Mechenbier | 163,800 |
| 63. Cogdell Family | 160,000 |
| 64. Fanjul Family | 160,000 |
| 65. JA Ranch Heirs | 158,500 |
| 66. Ellison Family | 152,000 |
| 67. Bass Family | 150,000 |
| 68. Boswell Family | 150,000 |
| 69. Eddy Family | 150,000 |
| 70. Green Heirs | 150,000 |
| 71. David Murdock | 149,700 |
| 72. Wells Family | 149,000 |
| 73. L-A-D Foundation | 147,000 |
| 74. Don Oppliger | 146,322 |
| 75. Benjy Griffith III | 145,000 |
| 76. Gerald J. Ford | 144,580 |
| 77. Arthur Nicholas | 144,102 |
| 78. Stefan Soloviev | 141,700 |
| 79. Patrick Broe | 140,862 |
| 80. Harrison Family | 140,000 |
| 81. Lane Family | 140,000 |
| 82. Crosby Family | 135,000 |
| 83. Ellwood Hiers | 130,000 |
| 84. Monahan Family | 130,000 |
| 85. Parker Ranch Foundation Trust | 130,000 |
| 86. Reese Family | 129,600 |
| 87. Davis Heirs | 127,500 |
| 88. Booth Family | 125,000 |
| 89. Brite Heirs | 125,000 |
| 90. Milliken Family | 119,509 |
| 91. Roxanne Quimby | 119,000 |
| 92. Moursund Family | 115,000 |
| 93. Frank Vandersloot | 113,500 |
| 94. Clayton and Modesta Williams | 112,042 |
| 95. Stan Harper | 111,877 |
| 96. Linnebur Heirs | 110,000 |
| 97. Luther King | 108,000 |
| 98. Robinson Family | 103,000 |
| 99. Butler Heirs | 101,315 |
| 100.Beggs Family | 100,000 |
| 101. Powell Family | 100,000 |
| 102. Yates Family | 100,000 |
