One in a lifetime you find an angel willing to defy the odds and protect God’s country to give it back the wildlife. Now I am a conservative and I believe in natural resources but gifts like this don’t happen every day.
Tim Sweeney, the founder of EPIC Games has reportedly paid $15 million to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to permanently protect 7,000 acres of undeveloped land in his home state of North Carolina.
This donation, earmarked as a “conservation easement” (which typically require landowners to forfeit the right to develop, subdivide, or otherwise interfere with the preservation of a natural landscape), is a nice example of how a successful member of the game industry might invest some of their wealth in a way that benefits others.
From Citizen-Times.com:
Sweeney’s recent donation is one of the largest conservation easements by an individual in the history of North Carolina, said Jeff Fisher, CEO of the land management and real estate consulting firm Unique Places LLC, which led the efforts to organize the permanent conservation.
“It may be the largest,” he said.
The easement permanently protects the 7,000-acre Box Creek Wilderness, nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains south of Marion and Morganton, north of Rutherfordton, and west of South Mountains State Park.
Sweeney, the founder of Epic Games, donated the conservation easement to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“The easement came about through lots of conversations with potential partners,” Fisher said. “It’s one of the most diverse areas in North Carolina. It has such rare plant and wildlife species, it seemed a perfect fit with the Fish and Wildlife Service. This is the first step – there will be other places protected. The goal is to connect South Mountains State Park to Chimney Rock. This is one piece of the puzzle.”
Kevin Caldwell, a wildlife biologist with Mountains to Sea Ecological, said ecologists documented more than 130 rare and watch-list plant and wildlife species, and several new-to‐science wildlife and plant species, including three moths and a new spiderwort species.
This isn’t the first time he’s done this, either. Outside of his place in the game industry, Sweeney is recognized as something of a conservationist in North Carolina; the Epic Games chief reportedly began buying up land in 2008 and now owns roughly 40,000 acres in the state, some of which he has previously donated for conservation.
What do you think about this wonderful gesture by Sweeney? Do you think it will be appreciated by everyone that has access to it? Share your opinions and comments below and add this terrific story to your Facebook/Twitter timeline.
