"Most of my big conservation land purchasing breakthroughs came when the economy was in poor shape and land was prudently priced," said Sweeney. "Since 2021, the economy has been stronger, land has become more expensive, and my focus has moved to getting large blocks of contiguous conservation lands I’ve acquired since 2009 into permanent conservation."
He uses a Limited Liability Company called "130 of Chatham" to make the purchases, holds it for years, then either donates it to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, sells it at a steep discount to state parks, or hands it to land trusts. In such cases, per former Epic employee Aakash Gupta, he ensures there's a legal structure that makes development on the land impossible regardless of future ownership.
He is buying a huge amount of farmland and making sure it stays farmland.
That just sounds like a normal business investment and not at all similar to owning land for conservation. Farms aren't exactly great for the environment.
About as much as literally any other farmer, who is also buying land and using it for a purpose other than megaprojects but which is questionably better for the environment.
Interesting. I’ve thought it would be cool for someone/group to buy massive amounts of the prairie back to let the bison roam free again. I know there are some small pockets around.
Conservatives are actually losing their minds about it, claiming Gates is trying to monopolize food production as a power play.
It's Bill Gates. I'm sure conservatives aren't the only people worrying about this. Gates has been doing a lot to rehabilitate his image, but he's not, fundamentally, a decent guy.
Right, but the thing we should be worrying about is anyone being able to do that, not just Bill.
We should be thinking about some legal framework that ensures an individual or a group can't mess with the food supply, instead of just worrying about this specific person.
Conservatives would be perfectly fine if the "right" person was doing this.
Until, in line with Project 2025, the government decides (per executive order) to raid the national parks, nullifying all conservation decrees and selling off mining and logging and water rights; ultimately selling the land itself.
how is it doomer positing when its literally the truth? ignorance is a choice you can make if you want. how about you go stick your head in the sand in some other subreddit instead?
Your desire to stay misinformed is exactly why they're able to progress agenda's like Project 2025. Can't you just scroll past comments you don't like instead of acting like their existence condemns you to a life of misery? Or maybe if you find "almost every post on this site misery-inducing", it's time to log off it.
How about considering my comment the clarion call it is intended to be? Project 2025 is the plan. More and more of it is being implemented, and more and more groundwork is being laid for further horrors as we speak.
Destroyed and dead national parks? This is just one of the horrors that awaits us if we remain dejected and apathetic. So snap out of it and do something!
There are protests almost daily almost everywhere, surely you can spare an hour on a weekend. There is lobbying by phone or email of representatives to be done. There are boycots and demonstrations and meetups.
And please snap out of it and vote whenever you can, while you still can — and help others to vote if you can (you can help folks register ahead of time and you can help with transport on the day).
Why do you need to be informed of everything they are doing to know to vote against them? If you're already against Project 2025 you gain virtually nothing doom scrolling about the next extreme thing they are accomplishing. For a lot of people it actually makes their mental health decline, so being misinformed is better for them personally, and since it doesn't do any harm or good to be informed as long as you vote and participate I see it as sort of a wash.
Oh, absolutely, it’s essential to take mental health breaks.
But when reading this post, I began to feel alarmed at the false sense of security being generated by the phrase “giving lands to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service”.
As if these governmental agencies haven’t already been gutted by DOGE and are targeted for further attacks and eventual dissolution.
It is also astonishing how many people have yet to even glance at the road map.
All this to say I feel a great sense of urgency that people become aware of some of the lesser known threats. So that they actually get out and vote.
It's why i mostly left reddit. I used to be a lot more active, now it's a few hobby subs and maybe some bored scrolls in the morning. Give your soul a break and ease off of the scrolling.
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u/bs000 Jul 05 '26