Falkland Farms property. Photo courtesy of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
North Carolina billionaire and Epic Games Inc. CEO Tim Sweeney has donated 7,300 acres of privately-owned land in Halifax County to the state — the largest single private land conservation gift in Virginia history, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Friday.
Cary, North Carolina-based Epic is the company behind the massively popular video game franchise Fortnite, which amassed 350 million players in less than three years following its September 2017 launch. As of April 15, Fortune magazine reported that Epic was valued at $28.7 billion and Sweeney has a net worth of $7.4 billion.
The tract of land that Sweeney donated, which is known as Falkland Farms, will be owned and operated by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and renamed the Southside Virginia Conservation and Recreation Complex. The property will be the first joint project between DCR’s Natural Heritage Program and Virginia State Parks. The Natural Heritage Program will conduct a habitat restoration project at the site, using controlled burning “to restore the Piedmont savanna and forest ecosystems the tract once supported,” according to a news release.
