Ted Turner's legacy
After acquiring three New Mexico parcels totaling more than a million acres over the years, the media-mogul philanthropist transformed them into luxury escapes for well-heeled nature lovers whose patronage now aids an immense and ambitious conservation effort.
By Jeri Clausing
VERMEJO PARK RANCH, N.M. — “Save everything” are the instructions plastered on every bumper of virtually every vehicle on Ted Turner’s more than 1 million acres of New Mexico ranchland. Part manifesto, part motto, the words summarize the mission that has driven the billionaire conservationist and his loyal workers for decades.
Now, as his family strives to uphold the aging media mogul’s legacy, it is also the motto behind the hospitality venture they have launched on his ranches to help finance a continuation of those efforts.
It’s an ambitious goal and a one-of-a-kind offering that is catching the attention of luxury travelers and advisors looking to experience a level of authenticity unrivaled in North America.
Think private national parks, a 10,000-acre-per-guest wilderness adventure that offers fishing, hiking, horseback riding and wildlife viewing or simply sitting on the porch of one of Turner’s private mansions or ranch homes, enjoying the Land of Enchantment’s famed sunny blue skies and mountain ranges.
“It’s really a luxury experience, but not like a commercial resort. You really feel like you’re visiting Ted Turner’s home.”
“There’s really nothing else like this,” said Brett Tollman, president and CEO of the Travel Corporation, whose Luxury Gold brand will be offering trips to the largest of Turner’s three New Mexico ranches, Vermejo Park, next year.
“It’s really a luxury experience, but not like a commercial resort,” Tollman said. “You really feel like you’re visiting Ted Turner’s home.”
Betty Jo Currie, an Atlanta travel advisor who specializes in high-end safaris and adventure travel, said the ranch gives guests an opportunity to “spend a week like a billionaire.”
“Only the very wealthy have used these places,” she said of Turner’s ranches. “They are making it possible for people to come to the ranch and use it as their own.”
VERMEJO PARK RANCH, N.M. — “Save everything” are the instructions plastered on every bumper of virtually every vehicle on Ted Turner’s more than 1 million acres of New Mexico ranchland. Part manifesto, part motto, the words summarize the mission that has driven the billionaire conservationist and his loyal workers for decades.
Now, as his family strives to uphold the aging media mogul’s legacy, it is also the motto behind the hospitality venture they have launched on his ranches to help finance a continuation of those efforts.
It’s an ambitious goal and a one-of-a-kind offering that is catching the attention of luxury travelers and advisors looking to experience a level of authenticity unrivaled in North America.
Think private national parks, a 10,000-acre-per-guest wilderness adventure that offers fishing, hiking, horseback riding and wildlife viewing or simply sitting on the porch of one of Turner’s private mansions or ranch homes, enjoying the Land of Enchantment’s famed sunny blue skies and mountain ranges.
Now, as his family strives to uphold the aging media mogul’s legacy, it is also the motto behind the hospitality venture they have launched on his ranches to help finance a continuation of those efforts.
It’s an ambitious goal and a one-of-a-kind offering that is catching the attention of luxury travelers and advisors looking to experience a level of authenticity unrivaled in North America.
Think private national parks, a 10,000-acre-per-guest wilderness adventure that offers fishing, hiking, horseback riding and wildlife viewing or simply sitting on the porch of one of Turner’s private mansions or ranch homes, enjoying the Land of Enchantment’s famed sunny blue skies and mountain ranges.
“It’s really a luxury experience, but not like a commercial resort. You really feel like you’re visiting Ted Turner’s home.”
“There’s really nothing else like this,” said Brett Tollman, president and CEO of the Travel Corporation, whose Luxury Gold brand will be offering trips to the largest of Turner’s three New Mexico ranches, Vermejo Park, next year.
“It’s really a luxury experience, but not like a commercial resort,” Tollman said. “You really feel like you’re visiting Ted Turner’s home.”
Betty Jo Currie, an Atlanta travel advisor who specializes in high-end safaris and adventure travel, said the ranch gives guests an opportunity to “spend a week like a billionaire.”
“Only the very wealthy have used these places,” she said of Turner’s ranches. “They are making it possible for people to come to the ranch and use it as their own.”
“There’s really nothing else like this,” said Brett Tollman, president and CEO of the Travel Corporation, whose Luxury Gold brand will be offering trips to the largest of Turner’s three New Mexico ranches, Vermejo Park, next year.
“It’s really a luxury experience, but not like a commercial resort,” Tollman said. “You really feel like you’re visiting Ted Turner’s home.”
Betty Jo Currie, an Atlanta travel advisor who specializes in high-end safaris and adventure travel, said the ranch gives guests an opportunity to “spend a week like a billionaire.”
“Only the very wealthy have used these places,” she said of Turner’s ranches. “They are making it possible for people to come to the ranch and use it as their own.”
Philanthropy as destination
With more than 2 million acres of personal and ranchland, Turner is the second-largest individual landholder in North America. He also owns three ranches in Argentina.
For decades, he has been a tireless and generous conservation philanthropist, using those lands and his personal wealth on programs to save the American bison, wolves and other endangered species.
His many other considerable contributions to conservation beyond his ranches include a $1 billion gift to the United Nations in 1997, which resulted in the formation of the United Nations Foundation that established the global criteria for sustainable tourism best practices.
In North America, more than half of his ranch holdings are spread across three properties in New Mexico. And half of that acreage is here at Vermejo Park Ranch, a nearly 600,000-acre property on the edge of the southern tip of the Rocky Mountains near the Colorado border, which Turner bought from Pennzoil in 1996.
Vermejo Ranch headquarters.
Vermejo Ranch headquarters.
The ranch, with its turn-of-the-century stone mansion and outlying guesthouses, has been turned into the flagship of what has been branded Ted Turner Reserves, where guests can enjoy the lands as if they were Turner’s private guests and also learn more about conservation from scientists and staff, who are all as committed and dedicated to the cause as Turner himself.
Turner, in a statement about the hospitality venture being overseen by his Turner Enterprises, said, “Ted Turner Reserves allows guests to enjoy the beauty of these ranches and even contribute to the conservation work we’re doing on them.
“My hope is that by seeing incredible species like bison, elk, black bears, bighorn sheep and wild horses in their natural habitat and witnessing the work we’re doing to save endangered species, such as the Rio Grande cutthroat trout and Mexican gray wolf, we will inspire visitors to make every effort to protect this planet for generations to come. These properties are my legacy, and Ted Turner Reserves helps to ensure that they remain protected — and enjoyed — in the way they deserve.”
“My hope is that by seeing incredible species like bison, elk, black bears, bighorn sheep and wild horses in their natural habitat and witnessing the work we’re doing to save endangered species, we will inspire visitors to make every effort to protect this planet for generations to come.”
Except for renovations that have focused on updating and restoring Casa Grande, the ranch’s stone mansion, the ranch is largely the same as it has been for decades. There are no luxurious spas, high-end retail stores or, for that matter, even a fitness center or pool. That’s because every project must somehow be tied to Turner’s motto of not only preserving the land but also the historical integrity of the ranch buildings.
In those, however, are treasures in and of themselves.
For example, in the high-ceilinged grand sitting area of Casa Grande is a classic Steinway piano that dates to 1871, a master suite with an original clawfoot tub, a grand seating area with a massive fireplace and an exquisite mosaic-tiled front entrance that was found to be in almost mint condition after Jane Fonda, one of Turner’s former wives, pulled up the green carpet.
The grand sitting area at Casa Grande features a Steinway grand piano that dates to 1871. As part of the Ted Turner Reserves project, Casa Grande has been updated and restored.
The grand sitting area at Casa Grande features a Steinway grand piano that dates to 1871. As part of the Ted Turner Reserves project, Casa Grande has been updated and restored.
The Steinway was used by the Denver Symphony, while a second, even more valuable, antique Steinway upright sits in an upstairs hall.
The guestrooms are more like those at a bed and breakfast, with sitting areas and en suite bathrooms.
And when guests ask managing director Jade McBride where the fitness center is, he points outside. At a maximum capacity of 60 guests, that comes out to about 10,000 acres per guest for exploration on bike, foot, horseback or four-wheel-drive vehicle.
Turner’s hospitality venture has been a number of years in the making. It was launched in 2015 as Ted Turner Expeditions from the Sierra Grande Lodge and Spa, owned by Turner in the quirky New Mexico hot springs town of Truth or Consequences, about halfway between his other two New Mexico ranches, Ladder and Armendaris.
The Turner Suite at Casa Grande.
The Turner Suite at Casa Grande.
Each of the ranches has a different topography and its own unique features and wildlife. Ladder Ranch, which is on the edge of the Sierra Madre range, is home to one of Turner’s wolf recovery projects. Armendaris lies to the northeast in the Chihuahuan Desert along the Rio Grande. Although Turner still maintains a private home there, the ranch is otherwise open to Turner Reserves guests from Sierra Grande and Ladder Ranch. The terrain at Armendaris is noticeably rockier and more high-desert than at Ladder and Vermejo, and the wildlife includes oryx, which, pre-Turner, were brought to southern New Mexico from Africa at some point by hunting enthusiasts.
Like Vermejo, the properties offer hiking, mountain biking, fishing, wildlife viewing and a variety of other outdoor activities.
The ultimate goal of Turner Reserves, McBride said, is to expand the hospitality venture across Turner’s other North American ranches to help finance the conservation efforts after the death of Turner, who is 81 and suffers from a form of dementia.
After Ted Turner Expeditions stumbled from a lack of focused and experienced luxury hospitality leadership, Turner Enterprises brought in some consultants and hired McBride, a veteran of Western luxury outdoor resorts such as the Ranch at Rock Creek in Montana and Amangiri in Utah.
Philanthropy as destination
With more than 2 million acres of personal and ranchland, Turner is the second-largest individual landholder in North America. He also owns three ranches in Argentina.
For decades, he has been a tireless and generous conservation philanthropist, using those lands and his personal wealth on programs to save the American bison, wolves and other endangered species.
His many other considerable contributions to conservation beyond his ranches include a $1 billion gift to the United Nations in 1997, which resulted in the formation of the United Nations Foundation that established the global criteria for sustainable tourism best practices.
In North America, more than half of his ranch holdings are spread across three properties in New Mexico. And half of that acreage is here at Vermejo Park Ranch, a nearly 600,000-acre property on the edge of the southern tip of the Rocky Mountains near the Colorado border, which Turner bought from Pennzoil in 1996.
Vermejo Ranch headquarters.
Vermejo Ranch headquarters.
The ranch, with its turn-of-the-century stone mansion and outlying guesthouses, has been turned into the flagship of what has been branded Ted Turner Reserves, where guests can enjoy the lands as if they were Turner’s private guests and also learn more about conservation from scientists and staff, who are all as committed and dedicated to the cause as Turner himself.
Turner, in a statement about the hospitality venture being overseen by his Turner Enterprises, said, “Ted Turner Reserves allows guests to enjoy the beauty of these ranches and even contribute to the conservation work we’re doing on them.
“My hope is that by seeing incredible species like bison, elk, black bears, bighorn sheep and wild horses in their natural habitat and witnessing the work we’re doing to save endangered species, such as the Rio Grande cutthroat trout and Mexican gray wolf, we will inspire visitors to make every effort to protect this planet for generations to come. These properties are my legacy, and Ted Turner Reserves helps to ensure that they remain protected — and enjoyed — in the way they deserve.”
Except for renovations that have focused on updating and restoring Casa Grande, the ranch’s stone mansion, the ranch is largely the same as it has been for decades. There are no luxurious spas, high-end retail stores or, for that matter, even a fitness center or pool. That’s because every project must somehow be tied to Turner’s motto of not only preserving the land but also the historical integrity of the ranch buildings.
In those, however, are treasures in and of themselves.
For example, in the high-ceilinged grand sitting area of Casa Grande is a classic Steinway piano that dates to 1871, a master suite with an original clawfoot tub, a grand seating area with a massive fireplace and an exquisite mosaic-tiled front entrance that was found to be in almost mint condition after Jane Fonda, one of Turner’s former wives, pulled up the green carpet.
The grand sitting area at Casa Grande features a Steinway grand piano that dates to 1871. As part of the Ted Turner Reserves project, Casa Grande has been updated and restored.
The grand sitting area at Casa Grande features a Steinway grand piano that dates to 1871. As part of the Ted Turner Reserves project, Casa Grande has been updated and restored.
The Steinway was used by the Denver Symphony, while a second, even more valuable, antique Steinway upright sits in an upstairs hall.
The guestrooms are more like those at a bed and breakfast, with sitting areas and en suite bathrooms.
And when guests ask managing director Jade McBride where the fitness center is, he points outside. At a maximum capacity of 60 guests, that comes out to about 10,000 acres per guest for exploration on bike, foot, horseback or four-wheel-drive vehicle.
Turner’s hospitality venture has been a number of years in the making. It was launched in 2015 as Ted Turner Expeditions from the Sierra Grande Lodge and Spa, owned by Turner in the quirky New Mexico hot springs town of Truth or Consequences, about halfway between his other two New Mexico ranches, Ladder and Armendaris.
The Turner Suite at Casa Grande.
The Turner Suite at Casa Grande.
Each of the ranches has a different topography and its own unique features and wildlife. Ladder Ranch, which is on the edge of the Sierra Madre range, is home to one of Turner’s wolf recovery projects. Armendaris lies to the northeast in the Chihuahuan Desert along the Rio Grande. Although Turner still maintains a private home there, the ranch is otherwise open to Turner Reserves guests from Sierra Grande and Ladder Ranch. The terrain at Armendaris is noticeably rockier and more high-desert than at Ladder and Vermejo, and the wildlife includes oryx, which, pre-Turner, were brought to southern New Mexico from Africa at some point by hunting enthusiasts.
Like Vermejo, the properties offer hiking, mountain biking, fishing, wildlife viewing and a variety of other outdoor activities.
The ultimate goal of Turner Reserves, McBride said, is to expand the hospitality venture across Turner’s other North American ranches to help finance the conservation efforts after the death of Turner, who is 81 and suffers from a form of dementia.
After Ted Turner Expeditions stumbled from a lack of focused and experienced luxury hospitality leadership, Turner Enterprises brought in some consultants and hired McBride, a veteran of Western luxury outdoor resorts such as the Ranch at Rock Creek in Montana and Amangiri in Utah.
A legacy of conservation expertise
In addition to recruiting former colleagues and young locals who are as enthusiastic as the Turner family about carrying on the legacy of conservation, McBride has turned to a host of experts, including Tollman, whose grandfather founded the Travel Corporation 100 years ago with a hotel in South Africa.
“As we looked at what the big picture looks like … we really found that the South African model of private nature reserves with the purpose of generating money worked really well with what we are trying to do,” McBride said.
“As we looked at what the big picture looks like … we really found that the South African model of private nature reserves with the purpose of generating money worked really well with what we are trying to do.”
With the basics now in place, he said, “our task today is to figure out how we build a hospitality service model and the sales and marketing infrastructure we need so that when [the Turners are ready to open] another property, we are ready.”
Ted Turner Reserves has also begun more aggressive outreach to luxury travel advisors who, like Currie, specialize in adventure trips for very high-end clients.
And it appears to be working.
People magazine recently featured a story about Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, whose fiance brought her to Vermejo Park Ranch earlier this year to propose.
A legacy of conservation expertise
In addition to recruiting former colleagues and young locals who are as enthusiastic as the Turner family about carrying on the legacy of conservation, McBride has turned to a host of experts, including Tollman, whose grandfather founded the Travel Corporation 100 years ago with a hotel in South Africa.
“As we looked at what the big picture looks like … we really found that the South African model of private nature reserves with the purpose of generating money worked really well with what we are trying to do,” McBride said.
“As we looked at what the big picture looks like … we really found that the South African model of private nature reserves with the purpose of generating money worked really well with what we are trying to do.”
With the basics now in place, he said, “our task today is to figure out how we build a hospitality service model and the sales and marketing infrastructure we need so that when [the Turners are ready to open] another property, we are ready.”
Ted Turner Reserves has also begun more aggressive outreach to luxury travel advisors who, like Currie, specialize in adventure trips for very high-end clients.
And it appears to be working.
People magazine recently featured a story about Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, whose fiance brought her to Vermejo Park Ranch earlier this year to propose.
And hunting, too
At certain times of the year, the ranches are also open for hunting, a revelation that often startles animal lovers and adventure travel enthusiasts, though it parallels conservation efforts in Africa.
As McBride explained, the conservation model goes way beyond green efforts by the industry to ban plastics and recycle. And that requires hunting.
“It’s definitely a delicate ecosystem, and we are in a position that we have to manage it,” he said. “And we know it works.”
For example, he said, when Turner bought Vermejo, the Rio Grande cutthroat trout was nearly extinct. As conservation scientist set about trying to restock the rivers with the native fish, they were having little luck.
Then they discovered the rivers on the ranch were a half-degree too warm for the fish, not as a result of global warming but because too many elk and cattle were eating the grass on the riverbanks, reducing the shade and elevating the water temperature.
“Today, the state of New Mexico says that the population is so healthy on Vermejo that you can now catch and keep the Rio Grande cutthroat trout. That’s something that hadn’t been allowed for 100 years.”
After 18 years, Turner is credited with rehabilitating more than 100 miles of river and 18 lakes on the ranch and in the nearby Carson National Forest, the largest contiguous effort ever undertaken on behalf of native trout in North America.
“Today,” McBride said, “the state of New Mexico says that the population is so healthy on Vermejo that you can now catch and keep the Rio Grande cutthroat trout. That’s something that hadn’t been allowed for 100 years.”
So even with the cattle gone, McBride said, a tightly managed elk-hunting season is necessary to keep things balanced.
“This is something [Turner] has spent 40 years doing, trying to balance the ecosystem and save wildlife,” he said. “It is so important to be part of that. There is nothing fake about it. It is totally authentic and real.”
And hunting, too
At certain times of the year, the ranches are also open for hunting, a revelation that often startles animal lovers and adventure travel enthusiasts, though it parallels conservation efforts in Africa.
As McBride explained, the conservation model goes way beyond green efforts by the industry to ban plastics and recycle. And that requires hunting.
“It’s definitely a delicate ecosystem, and we are in a position that we have to manage it,” he said. “And we know it works.”
For example, he said, when Turner bought Vermejo, the Rio Grande cutthroat trout was nearly extinct. As conservation scientist set about trying to restock the rivers with the native fish, they were having little luck.
Then they discovered the rivers on the ranch were a half-degree too warm for the fish, not as a result of global warming but because too many elk and cattle were eating the grass on the riverbanks, reducing the shade and elevating the water temperature.
“Today, the state of New Mexico says that the population is so healthy on Vermejo that you can now catch and keep the Rio Grande cutthroat trout. That’s something that hadn’t been allowed for 100 years.”
After 18 years, Turner is credited with rehabilitating more than 100 miles of river and 18 lakes on the ranch and in the nearby Carson National Forest, the largest contiguous effort ever undertaken on behalf of native trout in North America.
“Today,” McBride said, “the state of New Mexico says that the population is so healthy on Vermejo that you can now catch and keep the Rio Grande cutthroat trout. That’s something that hadn’t been allowed for 100 years.”
So even with the cattle gone, McBride said, a tightly managed elk-hunting season is necessary to keep things balanced.
“This is something [Turner] has spent 40 years doing, trying to balance the ecosystem and save wildlife,” he said. “It is so important to be part of that. There is nothing fake about it. It is totally authentic and real.”
A social distance from everywhere
In the age of overtourism, high-stress air travel and now, the coronavirus, I don’t think I could have picked a better time than February to a take the three-and-a-half-hour drive from my home in Albuquerque, N.M., to Vermejo Park Ranch.
After exiting Interstate 25 in Raton, I found myself on a 35-mile stretch of deserted two-lane road that I later found out was actually the driveway to Vermejo, as the ranchland extends almost to the interstate on the east and into the mountains near Cimarron and Taos on the west.
As I entered the gate, I drove for another several miles before coming over a hill and into the valley, where the 25,000-square-foot Casa Grande, built by William Bartlett of Chicago, sits surrounded by five smaller stone guesthouses.
A larger guesthouse, called Turner House, is currently being renovated to provide 10 more guestrooms and a spa area.
Tucked up in the mountains is the Costilla Lodge, which provides direct access to the wilderness and some of the ranch’s best fishing streams and lakes.
In between Casa Grande and Turner House is a two-story, rustic, wood and stone building that houses a small reception area, an upstairs meetings space and a restaurant and bar with a fireplace and sweeping views of the mountains.
The agenda for my hosted visit called for afternoon ice fishing. But it was so cold and windy on the lake that my private guide instead took me for a drive to explore the areas around the lodge.
Unfortunately, the cold wind also kept the wildlife huddled out of sight, but the sites were beautiful nonetheless, and the solitude was calming.
The next morning, I had a private yoga class, went horseback riding with the ranch hand who manages the dozen or so horses that take guests everything from a gentle ride in the valley to expert rides on high-altitude mountain trails.
Later, I joined a group of travel advisors for lunch in the horse barn, followed by skeet shooting and visits to a few more of the ranch’s many highlights. Among them is an overlook offering stunning views of the valley and nearby Rockies and the remains of ovens that residents of a long-gone mountain town called Catskill used for making coal before the area was washed away in a flood some 100 years ago.
I got back just in time to enjoy a cocktail mixology class conducted for four women who were on an annual girls trip to the ranch.
Dinners offered the kind of options you would expect from a billionaire rancher’s home, including homemade soups and bison and fish options.
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