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White Oak Conservation is 600 acres〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.kingslandgahotel.com/ap-hotels-near-white-oak-plantation-conservation-center-1302736673.php )〕 of the 7,400 acres on White Oak Plantation, which is mostly forest, wetlands, arts and wildlife facilities, and a golf course outside Yulee, Florida just below the Georgia state line along the St. Marys River.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.whiteoakwildlife.org/home/about-us/ )〕 The site houses more than 200 animals from 20-plus species and is internationally known〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://wildlifeconservationnetwork.org/wildlife/okapi2.html )〕 for its wildlife conservation. It has been successful in breeding several types of endangered, threatened and vulnerable species, including addra gazelle, cheetah, gerenuk, Mississippi sandhill crane, okapi, and three of the five species of rhinoceros. The site also accommodates conferences and has welcomed renowned guests, most notably former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Additionally, White Oak is home to the Mikhail Baryshnikov Dance Studio, which is visited by choreographers, dance troupes and others in the performing arts from around the world.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.whiteoakwildlife.org/wop/fine-arts-and-residencies/ )〕 == History of White Oak Plantation == The earliest recorded history of White Oak Plantation dates back to April 16, 1768, when the British governor of Florida gave land along the St. Marys River through a land grant to Andrew Way, his deputy surveyor of lands. Three years later, Jermyn Wright, also a recipient of a land grant on the St. Marys, purchased Way's property.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.whiteoakwildlife.org/wop/white-oak-history/ )〕 The plantation produced timber and was home to food stores for naval vessels using the river. After removing the stands of cypress from the property's swampy areas, Wright also began to cultivate rice, establishing the southern-most rice plantation on the Atlantic coast.〔 By 1833, Zephaniah Kingsley, a pre-Civil War agricultural baron, had become the plantation's owner. In 1842, White Oak Plantation was purchased by Abraham Bessent, a shopkeeper in nearby St. Marys, Georgia. The sale included extensive machinery and 118 slaves, 109 whose names were recorded on the deed.〔 Before the American Civil War, White Oak had about 350 acres of rice paddies in cultivation. Today, the abandoned paddies are still visible, and the remnants of a building from the Kingsley era still stand in what is now a cheetah enclosure. During the Civil War, most planters left their rice plantations and permanently relocated to their summer estates. It is probable that the plantation was abandoned at this time.〔 The Gilman family acquired the property in the late 1930s. Isaac Gilman grew from humble beginnings, peddling in Manhattan in the 1880s after emigrating from Europe. He saved up, and in 1907, he purchased a struggling paper company in Vermont, which was renamed the Gilman Paper Company in 1921. Gilman handed off the business to his son, Charles, who in 1939 moved it to the 7,400-acre White Oak site that was acquired a year earlier and constructed a large paper operation.〔 Early features included timber production; the breeding, raising and training of horses; and recreational programs that helped market the company, which became the largest private paper business in the country.〔 Charles Gilman died in 1967, leaving his sons Chris and Howard to run it as president and senior officer, respectively. Chris died in 1982, making Howard the sole owner. In was then that Howard Gilman began to spearhead additions to the White Oak property, investing $154 million to build the Baryshnikov Dance Studio, a conference center, a nine-hole golf course, and expansive enclosures and buildings to raise, breed, rehabilitate and study threatened and endangered species. (White Oak had animals, like roan antelope, before 1982, but it was that year the center officially became White Oak Conservation Center.) Outside of White Oak, Gilman also made large contributions to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Brooklyn Academy of Music.〔 Starting in 1993, the Howard Gilman Foundation hosted a variety of national and international conferences and seminars at White Oak directly related to its three fields of interest: arts and culture, conservation and the environment, and public policy. The foundation—created by Gilman in 1981 to support the arts and wildlife〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://howardgilmanfoundation.org/gilman/index.html )〕—owned White Oak following Howard Gilman's death in 1998 until March 2013.〔 In March 2013, White Oak was purchased by Mark and Kimbra Walter. The Walters are conservationists who support wildlife programs across North America. White Oak operations and facilities are managed by White Oak Conservation Holdings LLC, which the Walters established for this purpose.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「White Oak Conservation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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