Thanks to the DuPont Land Legacy Program, roughly 34,000 acres have been protected since 1994

DuPont has been a property owner since 1802, when company founder E.I. du Pont bought 65 acres of land for his black powder mills on the banks of the Brandywine River in Delaware.

During the more than two centuries of continuous operations that followed, the company acquired tens of thousands of acres more on which to site its plants and offices that are today located around the world. Over the years, significant parcels in the company's holdings went undeveloped or remained on the books after the company ceased operations on or near them. Left undisturbed, many thousands of acres became prime natural areas and exceptional candidates for preservation.

"With the passage of time, we realized we had many properties of genuine ecological or cultural significance," said DuPont Chairman and CEO Chad Holliday. "We formally instituted our Land Legacy Program in 1994 to review these properties and recommend which should be protected."

Since its inception, the DuPont Land Legacy Program has permanently protected about 34,000 acres of land. Through the initiative, DuPont has set aside large tracts of company-owned land for use as state forest, wildlife refuges and open space preserves. Including the Land Legacy properties, the company's total land or easement donations historically amount to more than 78,000 acres.

In 2002, The Conservation Fund honored DuPont for its leadership, initiative and action in protecting open space in the United States.

Some of the company's most significant land donations:

In 1994, DuPont donated the 1,000-acre Willow Grove Lake property to The Nature Conservancy of New Jersey;

In 1996, about 7,700 acres of forest near Brevard in western North Carolina went to The Conservation Fund;

In 2002, DuPont gave 855 acres of open space in Louviers, Colorado, to The Conservation Fund and Douglas County to provide a continuing habitat for a variety of species – including elk and black bear – and recreation opportunities for the community; and

DuPont donated almost 16,000 acres of land, immediately adjacent to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Southeast Georgia, to The Conservation Fund. The donation is the largest in the history of the DuPont Land Legacy program.

Here's a look at other donations made through the DuPont Land Legacy Program: