GET OFF MY LAWN…The Top LANDOWNING FAMILY in Utah

Before we get to the families who own the most land in the state let's talk about the FEDs. The Federal Government owns the most land in Utah at around 23 million acres. According to agriculturequestions.com:

"Most of this land is public and includes national parks, forests, monuments, and recreation areas managed by different federal agencies like the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management." (Link to full article)

Ok so that was expected. Teddy Roosevelt had a great vision for national parks and land being preserved. Gotta love the Trustbuster, but 23 million acres? That's 22.998 million more acres than I have.

Now, for the families that own the most land...

The Freeds (300,000 acres)

Robert E. Freed is a World War II veteran who bought up a ton of land in the first half of the 20th century. He married a Robinson and they combined all of their land including six cattle ranches and the land that Lagoon is built on.

"Following the war, he agreed to lease the Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington, Utah and became its operations manager in 1946. Later, he was promoted to general manager, overseeing the Terrace Ballroom and affiliated businesses. The majority of Lagoon’s expansions were overseen by Freed. He and his siblings rescued Lagoon from the verge of bankruptcy and helped transform it into a first-rate family entertainment park."

So most of their land is ranches, but their most notable land, to most Utahn's, is probably Lagoon.

Where do the Freeds/Robinsons rank among the biggest American landowners? Somewhere in the top 100.

At the very top you have guys like Ted Turner who owns over two million acres including a ton of land in New Mexico.

The Ford family owns 625,000 acres.

Jeff Bezos owns 290,000 acres including a huge corn ranch in Texas.

The Pioneer Woman owns around 400,000 acres in Oklahoma.

How does one buy land?