President Jimmy Carter and Jane Yarn

Jimmy Carter (1924 - )

Jimmy Carter served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981. He was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for work to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development. President Carter designated four national marine sanctuaries during his term: Channel Islands, Point-Reyes Farallon Islands, Looe Key, and Gray's Reef.

President Jimmy Carter supported the National Marine Sanctuary System throughout his presidency. In 1977, he instructed the Secretary of Commerce to identify possible national marine sanctuaries in areas where development appears imminent. In 1979, he requested NOAA to develop a List of Recommended Areas for marine sanctuaries designation. This process resulted in a pool of 67 potential sites from which future active candidates for sanctuary designation were to be chosen. Notable members of this list included Flower Garden Banks and Gray's Reef.

On September 22, 1980, President Carter designated Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary as the third sanctuary in the system. On January 16, 1981, President Carter designated Point-Reyes Farallon Islands, Looe Key, and Gray's Reef as national marine sanctuaries. As of 2022, the system now includes a system of 15 national marine sanctuaries and Papahānaumokuākea and Rose Atoll marine national monuments.

President Jimmy Carter served as president from January 20, 1977 to January 20, 1981. Significant foreign policy accomplishments of his administration included the Panama Canal treaties, the Camp David Accords, the treaty of peace between Egypt and Israel, the SALT II treaty with the Soviet Union, and the establishment of U.S. diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. He championed human rights throughout the world. On the domestic side, the administration's achievements included a comprehensive energy program conducted by a new Department of Energy; deregulation in energy, transportation, communications, and finance; major educational programs under a new Department of Education; and major environmental protection legislation, including the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.

After his presidency, President Carter and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, founded The Carter Center in partnership with Emory University. The organization's mission is grounded in a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering. The Center seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health.

Jane Hurt Yarn (1924 - 1995)

For more than 25 years, conservationist Jane Hurt Yarn, fought to preserve Georgia's natural resources, including the area now known as Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary.

She was a tireless defender of Georgia's wild places and through her work with the Nature Conservancy; she secured several of Georgia's barrier islands for the enjoyment of future generations. Jane's efforts laid the groundwork for conserving:

• Egg Island, a 400-acre marsh island in the mouth of the Altamaha River. This was the first acquisition of land on the Georgia coast by a conservation organization.
• Wormsloe, now a state historic site
• Wolf and Wassaw islands, now parts of the National Wildlife Refuge System
• Ossabaw Island, now a state heritage site
• Cumberland Island, now a National Seashore

Yarn began working with Jimmy Carter during his campaign for Governor of Georgia in 1970. Around the same time, she helped move the Georgia Marshlands Protection Act though the Georgia state legislature and into law. Later, she joined Carter's campaign for president. Once elected, President Carter appointed Yarn to serve as a member of the Council for Environmental Quality. She kept that position from 1975 to 1981. It was from this position that she influenced President Carter to approve the designation of the Point-Reyes Farallon Islands, Gray's Reef, and Looe Key national marine sanctuaries off the coasts of California, Georgia, and Florida, respectively. Those January 16, 1981 designations brought the total number of marine sanctuaries to six.

After her service to President Carter, Yarn returned to Atlanta and continued her work on environmental issues with a variety of organizations, including The Wilderness Society, The National Wildlife Federation and the Southern Environmental Law Center. She received the national Nature Conservancy Oak Leaf Award in 1989, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia Environmental Council in 1993, the national Common Cause Public Service Award in 1995, and she served on the Atlanta committee for the Olympic Games Environmental Task Force.

Yarn died October 18, 1995 after a 20-year battle with breast cancer. She was 71.

Dedicating the R/V Jane Yarn

In 1998, Gray's Reef renamed a newly acquired 65-foot retired Navy ship the Research Vessel Jane Yarn. For years, the vessel plied the waters of the Atlantic, ferrying scientists, teachers, and others to and from the sanctuary.

By 2007, the vessel was no longer serviceable, and the decision was made to donate it to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources for its artificial-reef project. The ship was stripped of all usable materials, thoroughly cleaned from bow to stern, and sunk as an artificial reef well outside of the sanctuary itself, at the man-made reef now designated as JY Reef. JY Reef is now home to a diverse array of octocorals, sponges, and fishes. Researchers continue to visit JY Reef and the artificial reef to study the progression of fish and invertebrate communities.