The Nature Conservancy of Kentucky

Our years-long Green Heart Louisville Project is complete! In this study TNC, the University of Louisville and other partners planted around 8,000 trees throughout Louisville communities to research the results greening has on a community, and the results are in! Did the groundbreaking project demonstrate its main hypothesis? Does increased urban greening lower the risk of cardiovascular disease? Today we have answers!

Learn more:

Does planting trees help improve the health of communities? The University of Louisville is conducting an experiment where researchers purposefully plant trees to study the health impact of the residents in the area. NBC’s Anne Thompson reports for TODAY.

Just 15 miles south of Lexington is our Dupree Nature Preserve. The preserve helps protect important grasslands and forests, and provides a place for people to spend time in nature just outside of Lexington, Kentucky. Visit today to learn about the important role nature plays in protecting water quality, cleaning the air, and providing recreation opportunities that enhance local communities and economies.

Learn more: https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/dupree-nature-preserve-profile/

South of Louisville, near Shepherdsville, lies our Pine Creek Barrens Nature Preserve. But Pine Creek Barrens is anything but barren. The preserve is considered one of the finest examples of limestone/dolomite barrens ecosystem in Kentucky. The unique ecosystem supported at Pine Creek Barrens Nature Preserve is home to native warm season grass prairies which are important habitat for many species, including nesting birds like the Bobwhite quail. The nature preserve also serves as a tranquil respite from the fast-pace of nearby Louisville and Elizabethtown. Come visit and hike one of the trails today.

Learn more: https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/pine-creek-barrens/

The Nature Conservancy is proud to be the lead partner on a new $400,000 Appalachian Regional Commission grant, funded by the Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies (ARISE)! The project will work with federal, state and local partners to produce a nature-based tourism asset inventory and prioritized list of outdoor recreation infrastructure needs on publicly accessible lands across the tri-state Cumberland-Pine Mountain corridor of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Heather Furman, Director of TNC’s Appalachians Program, says, “The Nature Conservancy is eager to improve access to public lands in Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, vital parts of the Appalachians region, with support from this award and partners. This investment expands opportunities for everyone to benefit from spending time outdoors while enhancing the resilience of nearby communities and natural places.”

Read more: https://nature.ly/3X249qY

📸: The Cumberland Forest properties sit in the epicenter of elk reintroduction efforts in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. These elk herds have become an important attraction in a burgeoning ecotourism industry. © Daniel White/TNC

We've got big goals and we know that a greener, healthier and more vibrant future remains possible if we make the right investments and enact smart policies for people and nature. Right now, we are working to help protect Kentucky's land, water, climate and communities throughout the state.

Learn more about how we are working to create a brighter future for Kentucky:

Securing a Brighter Future: Hope for People and Nature in Kentucky TNC's five-year plan for conservation of the Kentucky's land, water, climate, and communities.

In the Kentucky River Palisades, home to at least 25 mammal species and 35 reptile species, we help protect the ecosystems at Jim Beam Nature Preserve. Come see the majestic limestone cliffs and waterfalls along the Kentucky River and its tributaries, and see if you can spot some wildlife.

Learn more: https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/jim-beam-nature-preserve/

"Our approach to government relations and policy work is all about bringing people together. Whether it’s our advocacy in DC or in Frankfort, TNC has demonstrated a record of successes in Kentucky when it comes to building support for conservation and the ways it benefits both people and nature." — Heather Jeffs, TNC in Kentucky's Director of External Affairs. Learn more about our advocacy work to help conserve Kentucky's lands and waters:

Government Relations and Policy in Kentucky Learn how we partner with state and local governments for a more sustainable future for people and nature in Kentucky.

Our Sally Brown and Crutcher Nature Preserves are home to unique plant and animal habitat that are a great example of the beauty of nature found in the Kentucky River Palisades region. Visit today and see what wildlife you can spot.

Learn more: https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/sally-brown-nature-preserve/

We use prescribed fire and controlled burns to help stop the spread of wildfires and promote healthy ecosystems. Learn more about the importance of prescribed fire and what it takes to become a burn boss:

Kentucky Fire Management The Nature Conservancy works with partners in Kentucky to carefully select and manage natural areas that will benefit from prescribed fire and controlled burns to limit the spread of wildfires.

Stretching across Knox, Bell, and Leslie Counties is the Cumberland Forest Wildlife Management Area, the largest conservation easement in Kentucky history. Learn what goes into creating public lands.

What goes into creating public lands? - Kentucky Living […]

In eastern Kentucky, we helped protect Bad Branch State Nature Preserve back in 1985, and still help manage it to this day. The preserve is home to large hemlock groves and even a 60-foot waterfall. Come see sandstone cliffs and the vistas you can spot overlooking Bad Branch Gorge.

Learn more: https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/bad-branch-state-nature-preserve/

Mantle Rock Preserve is named for its unique sandstone natural bridge, which is the largest of such east of the Mississippi River! Come spend some time in Kentucky's nature, witness this unique geologic formation and experience a part of history. Learn more:
https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/mantle-rock-preserve/

Did you know? Eastern golden eagles, which travel a different migratory path than other golden eagles, spend their summers in Canada but migrate south to Kentucky in the winter months. Recently, Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, just south of Louisville, spotted an eastern golden eagle and was able to equip it with a small GPS tracking device in order to learn more about this subspecies.
Learn more about this Eastern Golden Eagle:

Meet Hermes, the third golden eagle named at Bernheim Forest Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest named its newest golden eagle Hermes after the Greek deity. He’ll be tracked on his migration between the Bluegrass State and the Canadian wilderness.

We helped protect the Tom Dorman State Nature Preserve, just south of Lexington. This unique landscape, in the Kentucky River Palisades region, features miles of river and 220-foot tall limestone cliffs where the palisades get their name. Learn more about this protected part of Kentucky and plan your visit.

Tom Dorman State Nature Preserve The Nature Conservancy helped acquire one of the largest protected natural areas in the Kentucky River Palisades region.

The Appalachians’ rich variety of species, natural resiliency and diverse communities and cultures put it alongside the Amazon Rainforest and the Kenyan grasslands as one of the most globally important landscapes for tackling climate change and conserving biodiversity. Learn more about this unique landscape that stretches over most of the eastern United States.

Conserving the Appalachians One of The Nature Conservancy’s top priorities, this landscape spans 2,000 miles from Alabama to the Canadian Maritimes, a vast, nearly unbroken chain of forested mountains, valleys, wetlands and rivers.

Come see where blue ash, chinquapin oak and sugar maple can be found on steep limestone slopes, and try to spot wildflowers and their pollinators, like bees, birds and butterflies. This summer, visit our Sally Brown and Crutcher Nature Preserves in the Kentucky River Palisades region. https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/sally-brown-nature-preserve/

Summer is officially here! Visit one of our public nature preserves to enjoy sunny weather, bird watching, nature photography, and hiking on more than 20 miles of trails.

Kentucky Places We Protect The Nature Conservancy protects nature through a portfolio of nature preserves, as well in partnership with like-minded partners.

In honor of Juneteenth, we are featuring a story by Vanessa Moses, a 2023 intern for The Nature Conservancy Virginia. Her historical research on Brownsville, a former plantation, weaves together the stories of enslaved individuals with her own genealogical story. It is an important tribute to family, history and the people often left out of the stories we are told.

Recovering the Past: A History That Mirrors My Own VVCR History Intern Vanessa Moses reflects on the enslaved individuals who built what is now Brownsville Preserve, and finds connections across time in her own family's history.

The Cumberland Forest Project is one of TNC’s largest-ever conservation projects in the eastern U.S. The project’s newly relaunched webpage brings together the many strands of this story, from impact investors to a climate escape route to highlights from our conservation work in Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee.

The Cumberland Forest Project: Conservation at Scale With many years in the making, this innovative project demonstrates the climate benefits of sustainable forest management while providing positive conservation, community and financial returns.

Another great story about the Family Forest Carbon Program! This piece was written by Sarah Michels and published in The Bowling Green Daily News. Learn how the program works, how it connects small landowners to carbon markets, and why the program matters for Kentucky and beyond.

Photo by Wilkinson Visual

'Lungs of the state:' Forestry program aims for smaller owners, sustainability Nearly three-fourths of Kentucky's forests are held in smaller, family-owned lands. Until recently, most of these smaller acreage lands were cut off from carbon markets.

Have you ever heard of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act? If you love the outdoors, you should know about this 1937 law, a critical source of conservation funding. In this Kentucky Living Magazine article, you'll learn about the Act, what it does, and how it helped protect Cumberland Forest WMA, the largest conservation and public recreation easement in Kentucky history!

https://www.kentuckyliving.com/explore/great-outdoors/the-pittman-robertson-wildlife-restoration-act

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

The Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act - Kentucky Living […]

Hot off the press! Our new issue of Field Notes focuses on the importance of partnerships. No conservation organization can do it alone. Thanks to strategic partnerships, TNC can accomplish better conservation outcomes at larger scales.

Learn more about our cost-share partnership with USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service that is helping farmers put more cover crops in the ground; a decades-long partnership with the U.S. Forest Service-Daniel Boone National Forest that has added more than 7,700 acres to this iconic forest for public recreation; and a partnership with researchers at the UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment that installed new wetlands on the Cumberland Forest Project, attracting frogs, salamanders, elk, foxes, bats, and other wildlife -- even endangered species! Last but not least, we honor the memory of Bruce Orwin, a long-time TNC partner and Board member who leaves behind a lasting conservation legacy.

View issue here:https://www.nature.org/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/documents/2024-Spring-Field-Notes-TNC-KY.pdf

To finish out American Wetlands Month, here is a great article in Forbes by TNC's Global Board Chair, Bill Frist. Like many of us, Frist didn't know much about wetlands for much of his life. Learn what he has discovered about their importance to people and nature.

Wetlands: What You Don’t Know And Why It Matters A Supreme Court decision has moved the future of our wetlands into states’ jurisdictions. Most people don’t give wetlands much thought, but we all benefit from them.

The Nature Conservancy's Mining the Sun Report shows big opportunity for building solar energy on former mine lands in Kentucky. Siting renewable energy isn't easy. Communities are understandably concerned about losing productive farmland and healthy forests. The good news is, there are enough industrial sites or "brownfields" in the country, including Kentucky's former mine lands, to power most U.S. homes with clean energy. Read more in our new op-ed.

Renewable energy on former mines is big win for Kentucky and the nation | Opinion OpEd: A new report has found there are 20 million acres of former industrial lands considered suitable for solar and wind installations, including 300,000 acres of former surface coal mines in Kentucky.

May is American Wetlands Month! We celebrate the incredible progress we have made in Kentucky with our partners USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Together we have advanced wetland restoration on more than 19,000 acres of wetlands in the Mississippi River Basin of western Kentucky since 2011. Restoration benefits wildlife with better habitat, and people with cleaner water and flood resiliency.

Photo by Wilkinson Visual

Western Kentucky Wetland Project Area Learn about the biggest wetland restoration project in Kentucky history, taking place in the Mississippi River basin of western Kentucky.

Today is International Day for Biological Diversity. What is biodiversity, and why is it so important? We love this animated video, which explains why nature (and people!) need a diversity of life to thrive.

Why Is Biodiversity So Important? The food we eat, the air we breathe, our climate—everything that makes Earth inhabitable—all depends on the interplay of billions of species around the world...

Check out this fantastic video by our partners at Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources! On April 23, we celebrated the Cumberland Forest Wildlife Management Area with Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and several elected officials. This partnership made the largest conservation and public recreation easement in Kentucky history possible!

Cumberland Forest WMA Celebration After years of hard work, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources along with various other partners took time to celebrate the momentous occas...

In honor of Endangered Species Day, we're celebrating 50 species from 50 states, many of which have bounced back from low numbers, thanks to outstanding partnerships.

50 Species, 50 States: 50 Years of Action for Nature In its first 50 years, the U.S. Endangered Species Act has played a major role in conserving rare plants and animals in every state. Take a moment to celebrate its success where you live.

We have been so fortunate over the years to get fantastic photo volunteers! Here are a few photos by Wilkinson Visual, all great examples of our photo volunteers in nature. We have used these images over and over in our print and digital publications. Many thanks to our supporters!

We have another opportunity and request for photo volunteers in Middlesboro, Kentucky on Tuesday, May 21. TNC will reimburse you for gas, and we'll have a cooler with lunch and snacks. We would love to find a parent and child, if possible, and a diversity of photo models is always a priority as well. Regardless, if you have availability next Tuesday to be in Middlesboro with us for a photo shoot, we would welcome a message from you! It's a great way to support our conservation work through the power of storytelling!