Most of Missouri's Land is Owned By One Company

When you think of a massive amount of land you probably assume which celebrity has the most but in Missouri, it's not a celebrity that owns the majority of the land but a foundation.

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Once owned by Leo and Kay Drey the Pioneer Forest is located in the heart of the Missouri Ozarks. The land was originally purchased in 1951 to help preserve the forest and everything that lives in it and then transferred to Drey in 1954. At that time 90,000 acres of land were transferred to Drey and over time it's grown to 153,000 acres of Ozark woodlands across six Missouri counties.

The long-range objective for Pioneer Forest is to develop and manage native tree species of large diameter and high quality for wood products while also providing a host of recreational and ecosystem benefits.

In 2004 Leo and his wife Kay donated Pioneer Forest to the L-A-D Foundation making the company the largest land owner in the state of Missouri. To this day, they continue to conserve and ensure that Pioneer Forest is managed properly and is safe from being town down. So if you've ever been to Pioneer Forest (I've driven by it) you can say that you've seen and stepped foot on one of the biggest pieces of land in the state of Missouri.

Fun Fact: Bill Gates is the largest private owner of land with over 260,000 acres of land. Now that's a lot of land to build something on whether is homes, businesses of heck even a town.

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