As a line in the article below regarding the purchase of 4000 acres in the BIG WOODS of Georgia by Railroad Magnet Cornelius Vanderbilt heir Emily Vanderbilt states----"IT'S HARD TO VALUE SOMETHING LIKE THAT"..................Anytime the very well-to-do or us ordinary citizens purchase land and put a conservation easement on it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"IT IS HARD TO VALUE SOMETHING LIKE THAT"..........Putting a conservation easement on your land is truly "one small step for mankind" and one giant step for optimum biodiversity of our great Country.................And when neighbors team up to purchase a TOWN FOREST(a growing practice in New England) or when regional organizations like YELLOWSTONE TO YUKON, WILDLANDS AND WOODLANDS, ALGONQUIN TO ADIRONDACKS, TWO COUNTRIES-ONE FOREST and THE WILDLANDS NETWORK assist in protecting a new parcel of land that creates wild fauna and flora linkages, well, that is truly greatness at work and a reflection on the kind of altruistic private effort in combination with Federal Government National Park, National Wildlife Refuge and National Monument action that will one day get 1/3 of North America connected so that all creatures large and small can perform the services that fulfill the circle of life Nature has prescribeD for optimum health on our Planet

http://on.wsj.com/1HNn1L3

PRIVATE PROPERTIES

Emily Vanderbilt Wade Buys in Georgia for $22 Million

The roughly 4,000-acre property is a portion of the Greenwood quail hunting plantation, which was the longtime home of the late newspaper owner John Hay Whitney

ENLARGE

The property is a portion of the Greenwood quail-hunting
 plantation, which was the longtime

 home of the late John Hay Whitney, former U.S.
 ambassador to Britain and owner of the

 New York Herald Tribune, and his late wife, Betsey
 Cushing Whitney. 

PHOTO: JON KOHLER & ASSOCIATES

By

CANDACE TAYLOR

Updated March 13, 2015 12:49 a.m. ET

Emily “Paddy” Vanderbilt Wade
 has paid just over $22 million 

to purchase roughly 4,000 acres in
 Thomasville, Ga., that includes

 the Big Woods, a large tract of
 old-growth forest.

The property is a portion of the
 Greenwood quail-hunting plantation,

 which was the longtime home
of the late John Hay Whitney, former 

U.S. ambassador to Britain and
 owner of the New York Herald 

Tribune, and his late wife, Betsey
 Cushing Whitney. The plantation,

 which had been in Mr. Whitney’s
 family since 1899, was listed 

several years ago.

According to co-listing agent Jon
 Kohler of Jon Kohler & 

Associates, the property didn’t
have a formal asking price. “

It’s hard to value something like that,

” he said