Thanks for sharing this Jordan. What a read. You gotta love this kind of self-dealing:
A 2003 Washington Post investigation found the [Nature Conservancy] had imposed permanent land-use restrictions on some of its properties to guard their natural features, but later sold the land to current and former trustees at reduced prices, some of whom built houses there.
Honestly you end up feeling like the only moral position is to forefeit hte properties and return them to a Pembroke community land trust and let them manage it.
There’s a good point in the article that similar strategies (buying up distressed properties) are happening but for commercial agricutlure, which reminded me that I recently learned that Bill Gates is now one of the largest owners of commercial farmland in the US.
The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation has also invested millions in a Green Revolution in Africa which involves basically coercing farmers into purchasing proprietary seeds, pesticides, etc. It all begs for a trust-bust.