And Ted Turner is not #1, ha

1. John Malone 2.2 million acres

As the nation's largest landowner, Malone, chairman of Liberty Media, owns significant acreage through his Silver Spur Ranches, located in Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming and New Mexico.

2. Ted Turner 2 million acres +

Another media tycoon, Turner, like Malone, favors the southwest. But he recently reached north, to South Dakota, to acquire the Standing Butte Ranch, featured in the Oscar-winning movie "Dances with Wolves." Turner was already the owner of the world's largest private herd of bison, and the Standing Butte has given him some 3,500 more.

3. The Emmerson family 1.92 million acres

This is one of many multigenerational families on the list of the 100 largest landowners. Patriarch Curly Emmerson founded Sierra Pacific Industries, a lumber producer, in 1949. The family recently boosted its holdings by 54,000 acres and is currently promoting conservation efforts in California, near Lake Tahoe.

4. Brad Kelley 1.5 million acres +

Kelley's properties include ranches in Florida, Texas and Nevada. In 2014, he reportedly sold his 17,000-plus-acre Powderhorn Ranch to the state of Texas at a below-market price -- with the stipulation that the land be devoted to conservation efforts.

5. The Reed family 1.37 million acres

This family vaulted into the ranks of the top U.S. landowners by buying 600,000 acres of timberland in Oregon in 2014. The family owns Green Diamond Resource Co., a forest-products firm that dates back to 1890. The company is part owner and co-manager of woodlands throughout the Pacific Northwest.

6. The Irving family 1.25 million acres

The largest landowners in Maine, Canada's Irving family also supplies nearly a fifth of the oil products imported into the U.S. Additionally, the diverse family business founded in 1882 is involved in shipbuilding, construction, transportation and forestry products.

7. The Singleton family 1.1 million acres

Patriarch and Teledyne co-founder Henry Singleton purchased the 81,000-acre San Cristobal Ranch in New Mexico in 1985. Since then, the family has bought additional ranches in New Mexico and California to add to its considerable acreage.

http://www.bankrate.com/lite/real-estate/largest-landowners-in-the-nation-1.aspx