Former President Jimmy Carter made honorary national park ranger

PLAINS – Former President Jimmy Carter added a new title to his resume Sunday — honorary national park ranger.

National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis bestowed the award and title, the highest civilian honor awarded by the service, at a small ceremony Sunday at the Plains High School auditorium, which is now part of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site.

“This is indeed an honor for me,” Carter said. “Before I became president, I was already deeply committed to the outdoors. I am very proud to have been an integral part of the conservation movement.”

National Park Service officials say the honor is reserved for those whose contributions to the national park system is exceptional. The service is marking its centennial this year.

“President Carter embodies the spirit and principles of the National Park Service, and it is a great honor for me to present him with this award,” Jarvis said. “As we look forward to our agency’s next 100 years, we can look back and be inspired by the incredible work of President Carter.”

Park Service officials noted that Carter created 39 National Park Service units during his administration, including the Martin Luther King Junior National Historic Site, Women’s Rights National Historic Park, Kaloko-Honokahau NHP and Boston African American NHS. The War in the Pacific National Historic Park expanded the span of the National Park Service across the international dateline to Guam.

Carter also established permanent protection of more than 56 million acres in Alaska through the designation of 13 national monuments on Dec. 1, 1978, with that single act more than doubling the land area protected under National Park Service management. His use of presidential proclamation to protect those lands from immediate threat was followed by continued advocacy for legislated protection of these lands and waters, culminating in the Alaska National Interests Lands Conservation Act, signed Dec. 2, 1980. Park Service officials say his actions ensured preservation of natural wonders and historic sites, and ensured that the traditions of the native Alaskan people could continue.

“We’ve preserved the unparalleled beauty of areas like the Misty Fiords and Admiralty Island National Monuments in southeast Alaska,” Carter remarked when he signed the ANILC Act. “And we’ve ensured that Alaska’s Eskimos and Indians and Aleuts can continue their traditional way of life. And we’ve given the state of Alaska, finally, the opportunity to choose the land which will be theirs through eternity.

“I’ve been fortunate. I’ve seen firsthand some of the splendors of Alaska. But many Americans have not. Now, whenever they or their children or their grandchildren choose to visit Alaska, they’ll have the opportunity to see much of its splendid beauty undiminished and its majesty untarnished.”

The Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area and Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area are among the units he established that protect important resources and recreational opportunities near urban centers, benefiting millions of visitors annually. Urban parks continue today as the most visited units of the National Park System, Park Service officials say.

Carter also was a leader in the efforts to protect, recognize and assist communities and urban areas to support outdoor and urban recreation, establishing many programs which are now integral to the National Park Service Urban Agenda.