In 1888, George Vanderbilt began building a vast North Carolina estate; 26 years later, his widow...

A major property deal that began more than a century ago with a grieving widow turned a huge private wilderness in North Carolina into one of the most important public conservation achievements in American history. In May 1914, Edith Vanderbilt agreed to sell 86,700 acres of valuable mountain forest from the private Biltmore Estate to the United States federal government for $433,500. The deal was made at $5.00 per acre and moved the huge forest area into public ownership. The land later became the foundation of Pisgah National Forest, which was formally established in 1916. The sale carried out the conservation plan of her late husband, George Washington Vanderbilt. He began buying worn-out farmland and mountain slopes near Asheville, North Carolina, in 1888. Over 26 years, he collected more than 125,000 acres to build a self-sufficient mountain retreat centered around the 250-room Biltmore House.Building a cradle of forestryWhen George Vanderbilt first bought land in Western North Carolina, years of uncontrolled logging and burning had badly damaged local watersheds and forests. To restore the land, Vanderbilt hired famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and young fores...