Flutterby™! : Libertarian conservation runs a"fowl" of the law

Via Dave's Picks: Man defies North Dakota law with private refuges.

Cook, who lived in North Dakota as a boy, says the state is not doing enough to protect prime duck habitats. So he got out his checkbook. He is the sole member of two nonprofits that purchased land in the Dakotas and Minnesota for waterfowl protection.

But in North Dakota, the governor gets final say as to whether or not a corporation can buy land, and the governor has refused to approve of the purchases (some done 20 years ago). James Cook could own the land if he transferred it to himself, but the point of having the corporations own it is that he can set up legal structures so that the land is protected beyond his life.