Conservation Fund Acquires Jimmy Carter's Georgia Farm

Conservation Fund Acquires Jimmy Carter’s Georgia Farm

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A legacy of longleaf pines

The 2,458-acre farm that shaped the life of the late Jimmy Carter is slated to become public land.

The Conservation Fund announced on Monday that it has acquired the property located outside Plains, Georgia, ensuring the acreage remains protected from development.

According to reporting from The Guardian, the non-profit organization intends to open the land for hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation as early as 2027. By 2028, the group plans to transfer the property to Georgia’s natural resources department.

This acquisition will expand the Lanahassee Creek wildlife management area. Once the transfer is complete, the management area is expected to grow to nearly 7,000 acres.

Preserving the Georgia landscape

The land served as the foundation for the former president’s conservation philosophy. Carter grew up working alongside his father, Earl, on this site, managing peanut, corn, and sugarcane crops.

His connection to the soil translated into massive legislative action during his presidency. In late 1980, Carter signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which protected more than 104 million acres. This remains the largest expansion of protected public lands in United States history.

Conservation Fund Acquires Jimmy Carter's Georgia Farm

“Long before Jimmy Carter protected millions of acres across America, he was a boy working the fields and roaming the woods of southwest Georgia,” Stacy Funderburke, vice-president of the Conservation Fund’s central south-east region, said in a statement. “This land shaped him and his legacy, and he never stopped coming home to it.”

The conservation efforts on the farm were not merely historical but active decisions made by Carter himself. He requested that his family maintain a stand of mature longleaf pine trees on the property.

In one of his final land conservation acts, Carter had much of the farm replanted with young longleaf pine. This initiative was designed to restore the native forest that once dominated the region, providing a vital habitat for tortoises and rare freshwater mussels found in the adjacent creeks.

The National Park Service maintains the former president's boyhood home

While the farm will become part of the state’s management area, it is distinct from the boyhood home of the former president. That residence is currently maintained by the U.S. National Park Service to preserve the environment where he lived as a child.

For the Carter family, the transition to public stewardship represents a way to honor a deeply personal space. Jason Carter, the former president’s grandson, noted the significance of the land in a statement provided to the Conservation Fund.

Conservation Fund Acquires Jimmy Carter's Georgia Farm

“For our family, this land was always about more than a farm. It was home – a place my grandparents treasured,” Jason Carter said. He expressed gratitude to the organization for ensuring the property is protected for future generations.

The timing of this preservation comes years after the passing of the former president and his wife. Jimmy Carter, a Democrat who served as president from 1977 to 1981, died in December 2024 at the age of 100. His wife, Rosalynn Carter, had passed away just over a year prior.

The former president’s legacy extends beyond domestic land policy to his 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, which recognized his work in human rights, democracy, and the peaceful resolution of global conflicts.

As the transition from private family farm to public wildlife management area begins, the focus remains on the ecological health of the southwest Georgia woods. The question for the coming years will be how the state manages the balance between increased public recreation and the sensitive habitats of the species Carter sought to protect.

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