ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — A farm near Plains where President Jimmy Carter spent time working and exploring as a boy will become part of a Georgia wildlife management area, according to the conservation group that acquired the property.

The Conservation Fund said it acquired approximately 2,458 acres of the Carter family farm and plans to transfer the land to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources in 2028. The property is expected to open to the public as soon as 2027, before the transfer.

The land will be added to the neighboring Lanahassee Creek Wildlife Management Area, expanding it to nearly 7,000 acres, the group said. Plans call for hunting, fishing and other outdoor recreation on the property.

The Conservation Fund will own and manage the land until the transfer to the state, according to its Nov. 9 announcement.

A farm tied to Carter’s childhood

Carter’s father, Earl Carter, grew peanuts, corn and sugarcane on the farm, according to the conservation group. As a boy, Jimmy Carter worked in the fields and explored the surrounding woods.

He continued to visit the property throughout his life, returning to hunt, walk in the woods with his wife, Rosalynn, and fish in its pond, the group said.

Carter’s connection to the land extended into his presidency. In 1980, he signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which protected more than 104 million acres, according to the Conservation Fund.

Habitat for Georgia’s state reptile

The farm also provides habitat for the gopher tortoise, Georgia’s state reptile, the group said. The tortoises depend on open longleaf pine forests, and their burrows provide shelter for other animals.

The property supports deer, turkeys, quail and other native species, according to the Conservation Fund. The group said development and forest clearing have reduced gopher tortoise habitat across the Southeast.

At Carter’s request, his family preserved a stand of mature longleaf pines on the property, the group said. Much of the land was later replanted with young longleaf pines as part of an effort to restore the native forest.

The Conservation Fund helped Georgia establish the adjacent Lanahassee Creek Wildlife Management Area in 2019 to protect longleaf pine habitat and gopher tortoises.

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