From childhood, Jimmy Carter saw hunting, fishing, and time outdoors as part of his identity, a feeling rooted in family tradition and a strong desire to be in the woods, fields, and along streams. He learned stewardship, or how to care for God's gifts, from his father, in church, and at school in the Future Farmers of America. During the 1930s, he watched Earl Carter terrace eroded fields, preserve wildlife, and plant pine trees on marginal land. The boy who loved the outdoors later became a governor and president known for strong environmental stands. By signing the Alaska Lands Bill in 1980, Jimmy Carter placed more acres into conservation than any other president had done. In the 1980s, Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter also promoted tree farming. Farmers like the Carters planted so many trees that today more pines grow in Georgia than 100 years ago, and with more acres of commercial forest than any other state, timber is one of Georgia's most profitable agricultural crops.