Don Robinson of Missouri has just given the Department of Natural Resources the largest land donation that it has seen in over 25 years. At 81 years old, Don has never been married and has no children, and he has decided that he doesn’t want his wild acres of canyons, cliffs and forests to be treated disrespectfully when he dies, or made into “a dirt bike track”. He says he doesn’t want to leave his land to "melonheads" or let it get overrun.
Although the elderly, self-made businessman has made a vast amount of money since he invented a household cleaner, he only lives in a very modest wooden-shingled house, which is surrounded by acres and acres of beautiful land. His unfinished, rustic house with rough stone floors, where he’s lived since 1964 in conditions which Don refers to as ‘a step above camping,’ is accessed via a long, bumpy road, and one room holds his bed, a few mismatched chairs and a desk.
Tom Pounders, 48, who used to work for Robinson, says about him, “He doesn’t think material objects are important.”
His generous land donation of 843 acres, about the size of New York City’s Central Park, is going to be used to create a new State Forest called ‘Don Robinson State Park,’ and was donated along with a trust fund to help maintain the property, along with its 300 species of plants.
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