ESTELL MANOR, N.J. - Standing in a nearly 5,000-acre former game preserve owned for generations by 13 families, his own among them, Stewart Keener was finding it difficult to part Thursday with its nesting bald eagles, meandering streams, and a quiet so pronounced it's almost deafening.

"It's hard for us to let go", Keener, 47, of Philadelphia, said. "This is so unique here."