Laurance Rockefeller first saw undeveloped St. John from a boat in 1952; his conservation group later acquired about 5,000 acres and gave them to create a US national park
Laurance Rockefeller on St. John at Caneel Bay (Image Credit: National Park Service) What if one of America’s most beautiful national parks began with a wealthy conservationist simply looking at an undeveloped island from a boat? In 1952, Laurance Rockefeller sailed past St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands and was struck by its untouched…