Former President Jimmy Carter was honored on Wednesday by the Alaska Wilderness League for his conservation work in the state. The Mardie Murie Lifetime Achievement Award recognized Carter’s role in creating and passing the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.

When it came to protecting Mother Earth, in many respects, the late President Jimmy Carter was way ahead of his time.

Jimmy Carter will be forever linked to the fabric of Alaska, a character in the story of the 49th State. Carter, president of the United States from 1977 to 1981, died Sunday at his home in Georgia. He was 100.

Carter’s instincts for conservation had been evident earlier when, as governor of Georgia, he had opposed unbridled commercial development, favored tough regulations to protect the state’s coastal wetlands, and endorsed the creation of two major seashores and river parks.

Jimmy Carter was the first U_S_ president to make a state visit to sub-Saharan Africa, declaring “the day of the so-called ugly American is over.”