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

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.

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.

If the nation had listened to Jimmy Carter around these energy issues back in the 1970s, we would be in much better shape for dealing with the climate crisis today.”

Jimmy Carter established a green legacy in the fields, forests and river bottoms of Georgia as much as he did in the White House.

In his time in the White House, Jimmy Carter advanced environmental priorities, from protecting millions of acres of land in Alaska to creating the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in Georgia.

President Jimmy Carter's remains were brought to the Carter Center in Atlanta on Jan. 4. He will lie in repose until he is transported to Washington, D.C. for a funeral at Washington National Cathedral on Jan.

Of the hundreds of people who turned out on Saturday in Georgia to say goodbye to Jimmy Carter, many offered poignant comments on his life and legacy.