If you’ve visited Don Carter State Park and enjoyed your time there, you might want to thank Jimmy Carter, regardless of political persuasion. After all, it was the former president who set the park’s namesake on the path of a 29-year stay on the Georgia Department of Natural Resources board. The seed was planted when Don Carter told Jimmy Carter, who was running for governor, that he would like to serve on the Game and Fish Commission, the forerunner to the Department of Natural Resources.