Acres Archives - 9xm News

In 2008, actor Josh Duhamel bought 12 acres with a rustic fixer-upper cabin in Minnesota, with no electricity or running water, then expanded to 52 acres; now he has built an off-grid family retreat

Actor Josh Duhamel has acquired a tranquil property in Minnesota, initially featuring just an old cabin. Over the years, he expanded the land to fifty-two acres, modernizing it with essential utilities like electricity and running water. This transformation has provided a beloved retreat for his family, where they can enjoy a range of outdoor activities, […]

Jacksonville donated 20 acres for a new university campus; the $300 million project will bring graduate programmes and semiconductor research downtown | World News

Jacksonville is donating more than 20 acres of land in the LaVilla neighbourhood to the University of Florida for a new downtown campus, backed by a major public and private investment. The Jacksonville City Council unanimously approved the land transfer and an additional $50 million in funding, taking the city’s total contribution to $100 million. […]

A West Virginia family with roots around Audra stretching back 175 years donated 47 acres to the state park; one gift increases the entire park by about 13%

A West Virginia family with ties to the Audra area for over 175 years donated 47 acres to Audra State Park. In September, the Thacker family signed over the property at the state Capitol, along with a $15,000 donation for trails and signs on the new property, known as the Thacker Addition, according to a […]

A man bought 51,000 acres of degraded land in Florida; decades later, it became the largest private restoration project east of the Mississippi

He is 85, known as the father of sociobiology, has been at Harvard for 60 years, and has won a hundred scientific awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes. Yet what E.O. Wilson, an evolutionary biologist, is focused on is a new conservation approach, a new ecological Grail which is a quest to refute conservation sceptics who […]

In 1985, CNN founder Ted Turner bought thousands of acres in Florida; the former plantation became a major private wildlife landscape | World News

Ted Turner. Image Credit: Architectural Digest Ted Turner’s homes were never simply places to live. The CNN founder built a remarkable property portfolio that stretched across vast ranches, wildlife landscapes and historic plantations covering roughly 2 million acres. Among the most interesting was ‘Avalon,’ a former cotton plantation near Tallahassee, Florida, that Turner bought in […]

In 1940, actor James Cagney bought hundreds of acres of California grassland; decades later the remaining 417 acres became a protected wildlife corridor | World News

For decades, the grasslands outside Ramona, California, looked much as they had for generations: open country, seasonal pools and wide stretches of native vegetation broken by grazing land. As reported by the local news report, The San Diego Union-Tribune, among the people who once owned part of this landscape was Hollywood actor James Cagney, who […]

In 2024, a developer paid $4 million for 83 acres outside Yosemite; two years later the US is considering a land swap for a private access road through the park

The National Park Service is examining whether a land exchange can be carried out under federal law A Nevada-based developer is seeking a land exchange that could allow a private road to be built through Yosemite National Park, giving access to an 83-acre property just outside the park. The Trump administration is considering the proposal, […]

In 2024, a 192,560 sq ft industrial project won approval on 22 acres beside New Jersey’s Monmouth battlefield; two years later the state paid $15 million to preserve the former strawberry farm as part of the park

In 2024, Monmouth County officials approved a massive 192,560-square-foot industrial development on 22 acres of farmland directly adjacent to Monmouth Battlefield State Park in Manalapan, New Jersey. The site, once a strawberry farm, sat along Route 33 just steps from one of the most significant Revolutionary War battlefields in the nation. But in August 2026, […]

In 2024, a Colorado county paid $34 million for a 650-acre ranch privately owned for more than a century; 2 years later, 530 acres are being transferred into the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness

In 2024, a Colorado county paid $34 million for a 650-acre ranch privately owned for more than a century In a major expansion of protected public land, 530 acres of a historic Colorado mountain ranch are being formally added to the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness, two years after local officials secured the property in a record […]

In 1943, Franklin Roosevelt gave his family home and 33 acres to the US government while retaining family rights to live there; he had expanded the estate to nearly 1,500 acres and planted over 500,000 trees

Tree plantation undergoing at Springwood (Image Credit: FDR Library Photo via National Park Service) In December 1943, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt donated his family home at Springwood in Hyde Park, New York, along with 33 surrounding acres, to the US government while retaining life-estate rights for his family. According to the National Park Service, […]