Preservation Deal Secures Carter Family Homestead
The 2,458-acre property near Plains, Georgia, will be open to the public for recreation before being transferred to state management.
By Jack Weber ·
A 2,458-acre property in southwest Georgia that served as the childhood home of the 39th president has been placed under permanent conservation. The Conservation Fund announced on Monday that it has acquired the land, which lies just outside the town of Plains. The purchase price for the tract was $8.5 million.
Jimmy Carter first worked the soil on this property as a boy, tending crops of peanuts, corn, and sugarcane. He returned to the site repeatedly as an adult to walk with his wife, Rosalynn, and to hunt. The former first family maintained a specific stand of mature longleaf pines on the land at Carter's request. One of his final decisions regarding the property was to replant much of the area with young longleaf pines, a move that aligns the site with regional habitat goals.
Carter died in 2024 at the age of 100. Rosalynn Carter passed away in 2023. During his final years, Carter returned to the farm for one last fishing trip to its pond. Jason Carter, a grandson of the former president, said in a statement that the land was always more than a farm to the family. He described it as a home that his grandparents treasured and expressed gratitude to The Conservation Fund for ensuring its protection.
Stacy Funderburke, vice president of the central Southeast region at The Conservation Fund, noted that Carter was a boy working fields and roaming woods in this specific area long before he protected millions of acres across the nation. She stated that the land shaped his legacy and that the organization is honored to keep it as healthy habitat for wildlife.
The land is positioned to expand Georgia's Lanahassee Creek Wildlife Management Area. With this acquisition, the management area will grow to almost 7,000 acres. The local region already hosts the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park, which includes his boyhood home.
The Conservation Fund plans to open the farm to the public for hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation as soon as next year. The group intends to transfer the land to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources the following year.
