Marion Clifton Davis was raised in a trailer on a dirt road.
Starting at sixteen, he hustled pool and poker to pay for degrees in political science
and law. He invested in land and mineral rights, and earned millions. One day
on a whim, “M.C.” attended a presentation on Florida’s black bear. “I hate to
confess this,” he said. “I didn't know Florida even had black bears.” M.C.
started buying land in Florida’s pan handle: 50,000+ acres he named “Nocuse,” Muscogee
for black bear. He planted eight million long-leaf pine seedlings on what he
called a 300-year project. When lung cancer took his life, he was fifteen years
into it. M.C.’s trees are centuries from maturity, but Nocuse Preserve is
already home to several black bears. When gopher tortoises are found on nearby
construction sites, they’re relocated here. Every year thousands of students
learn about Florida’s wildlife at the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center M.C. Davis built.
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