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{{short description|Wildlife and conservation center outside Yulee, Florida, US}}
{{use mdy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{advert|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox zoo
|zoo_name = White Oak Conservation
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'''White Oak Conservation''', which is part of Walter Conservation, is a {{convert|17,000| acre|adj=mid}} conservation center in northeastern [[Florida]]. It has long beenis dedicated to the conservation of [[Endangered species|endangered]] and [[threatened species]], including [[rhinoceros]], [[okapi]], [[Bongo (antelope)|bongo antelope]], [[zebra]]s, [[dama gazelle]]s, and [[cheetah]]s.
 
Through Walter Conservation, the Walter family conserves [[rare species]] and wild places around the world. Efforts include improving the quality of life of individual animals, recovering rare species, [[Restoration ecology|restoring ecosystems]], and protecting [[Wilderness Areas|wilderness areas]]. Thus far, their philanthropy protects important areas in North America and Africa, protecting important wild populations of [[African elephant|African elephants]], rhinos, [[Lion|lions]], and many other species. The Walter Conservation approach is to protect and preserve large wild areas, provide wildlife security and management, to collaborate with local residents and host-country governments, and to invest in [[Sustainability|sustainable]] enterprises.
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White Oak is well known in the conservation and zoo communities for its rhinoceros, cheetah, and okapi (a rare giraffe relative) programs and for its support of conservation in Africa, Asia, and the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|title=White Oak Conservation - Animal Conservation in Yulee, Florida|url=https://www.whiteoakwildlife.org/|access-date=2020-09-30|website=White Oak Conservation|language=en-US}}</ref>
 
In March 2013, White Oak was purchased by [[Mark Walter|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.<ref name="History">{{cite web |title=White Oak History |url=http://www.whiteoakwildlife.org/wop/white-oak-history/ |access-date=3 June 2013}}</ref>▼
== History of White Oak ==
[[File:Tabby ruins on White Oak property.jpg|alt=|thumb|Tabby ruins at White Oak believed to be a rice mill from the Kingsley era.]]
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 (Florida–Georgia)|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.<ref name="History">{{cite web|title=White Oak History|url=http://www.whiteoakwildlife.org/wop/white-oak-history/|access-date=3 June 2013}}</ref>
 
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 southernmost [[History of rice cultivation|rice plantation]] on the [[East Coast of the United States|Atlantic coast]].<ref name="History" />
 
By 1833, [[Zephaniah Kingsley]], a [[Antebellum South|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 [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]], 109 whose names were recorded on the deed.<ref name="History" />
 
Before the [[American Civil War]], White Oak had about {{convert|350| acres}} of [[Paddy field|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 house|summer estates]]. It is probable that the plantation was abandoned at this time.<ref name="History" />
 
[[File:Isaac and his wife - name unknown.jpg|left|thumb|Isaac Gilman stands with his wife. Her name and the date of this photo are unknown.]]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 [[Pulp and paper industry|paper company]] in [[Vermont]], which was renamed the [[Gilman Paper Company]] in 1921.<ref name="Forbes">{{cite news|last1=Lenzner|first1=Robert|last2=Kellner|first2= Tomas|url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2003/0811/068.html|title=The Fall of The House of Gilman|periodical=Forbes|access-date=23 February 2014|date=11 August 2003}}</ref>
 
Gilman handed off the business to his son, Charles, who in 1939 moved it to the {{convert|7,400|acre|adj=mid}} White Oak site that was acquired a year earlier and constructed a large paper operation.<ref name="Forbes" /> Early features included [[Wood industry|timber production]]; the [[Horse breeding|breeding]], raising, and [[Horse training|training]] of horses; and recreational programs that helped market the company, which became the largest private paper business in the country.<ref name="History" />
 
Charles Gilman died in 1967, leaving his sons Chris and [[Howard Gilman|Howard]] to run it as president and senior officer, respectively. Chris died in 1982, making Howard the sole owner. It 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, [[Wildlife rehabilitation|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]].<ref name="Forbes" />
 
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<ref>{{cite web|title=About Howard Gilman|url=http://howardgilmanfoundation.org/gilman/index.html|publisher=Howard Gilman Foundation|access-date=3 June 2013}}</ref>—owned White Oak following Howard Gilman's death in 1998 until March 2013.<ref name="History" />
 
▲In March 2013, White Oak was purchased by [[Mark Walter|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.<ref name="History" />
 
== Animals ==
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* {{Official website}}
 
({{Coord|30.7304|-81.7187|display=title}}
{{coord missing|Florida}}
 
[[Category:Protected areas of Nassau County, Florida]]
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