Nokuse Preserve

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Nokuse Preserve, formerly Plantation, is a privately owned nature reserve in northwest Florida’s Walton County. It covers about 56,000 acres (230 square kilometers) and is the largest privately owned nature reserve in the Southeastern United States. Founded in 2000, it was funded by Marion C. Davis and his wife Stella Davis. The name Nokuse comes from the Muscogee language for black bear, a key species for the reserve. The area protects gopher tortoises that live in longleaf pine forests; some tortoises rescued from towns have been released there. The land was chosen for its large tracts in the Northwest Florida Greenway, a recognized biodiversity hotspot. Most of the property was bought for about $90 million from timber companies and replanted with eight million pine seedlings to restore the pine woodland lost in the early 20th century. A wildlife underpass links Nokuse to Eglin Air Force Base, which preserves an older longleaf pine forest with trees up to about 500 years old. The preserve also includes a 28,000-square-foot nature discovery center valued at about $12 million, named after evolutionary biologist E. O. Wilson.