Jimmy Carter’s family farm to be preserved as Georgia wildlife area

Former President Jimmy Carter’s legacy as a conservationist will continue as an environmental group recently purchased his family farm to protect the land that helped shape his conservation ethic. 

The Conservation Fund announced Monday that it had purchased nearly 2,500 acres of land just outside of Plains, Georgia, where the 39th president grew up and returned throughout his life. The purchase will expand the state’s Lanahassee Creek Wildlife Management Area to nearly 7,000 acres.

“Long before Jimmy Carter protected millions of acres across America, he was a boy working the fields and roaming the woods of southwest Georgia,” said Stacy Funderburke, vice president of the central Southeast region at The Conservation Fund. “This land shaped him and his legacy, and he never stopped coming home to it. We’re honored to help ensure this land remains healthy habitat for wildlife, and we look forward to the day it is open to everyone who wants to experience it.”

Carter had an impressive conservation record as president, signing the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in December 1980 and establishing 39 units of the National Park System.

The family farm that was purchased by The Conservation Fund is separate from the National Park Service’s Jimmy Carter Boyhood Home, which is where Carter lived as a child. The land purchased by the group preserves the larger working landscape where Carter worked beside his father in the fields producing peanuts, corn and sugarcane. 

“For our family, this land was always about more than a farm. It was home — a place my grandparents treasured. We’re grateful to The Conservation Fund and to everyone working to make sure it’s protected for generations to come,” said Jason Carter, grandson of President Carter.

The farm is expected to open to the public for hunting, fishing, and other outdoor recreation in 2027 before The Conservation Fund transfers it to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources in 2028.