Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves explained

The Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves is an agency of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in the United States dedicated to the protection of Kentucky's natural heritage.[1] The agency's primary focus is protecting rare and endangered species habitats. [2] It oversees a statewide program of nature preserves, the Kentucky Wild Rivers Program, and the "Nature's Finest" license plate program of the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund Board. The program was formerly known as the "Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission", from 1976 until a reorganization in 2018.[3]

As of July 1, 2018, Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves programs include:

The total of 112,000 acres in these programs is only 0.44% of Kentucky's 25 million acres.

Statewide Nature Preserve / Natural Area List:

Projects

Notes and References

  1. https://eec.ky.gov/Nature-Preserves/Pages/default.aspx Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves
  2. https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/kentucky/article247941605.html The Lexington Herald-Leader "How Kentucky selects state nature preserves, December 18, 2020"
  3. https://www.lanereport.com/102081/2018/06/office-of-kentucky-nature-preserves-established/ The Lane Report "Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves Established, June 7, 2018"
  4. https://www.lanereport.com/119603/2019/12/state-establishes-abbey-of-gethsemani-registered-natural-area/ The Lane Report 2019 State Establishes Abbey of Gethsemane Registered Natural Area
  5. https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/kentucky/article247845730.html ‘Extraordinary property.’ Kentucky adds its first new nature preserve in a decade. Lexington Herald Leader Dec 28, 2020
  6. https://www.wtvq.com/2020/10/08/158-years-later-perryville-battlefield-park-to-grow-by-hundreds-of-acres/ WTVQ October 8 2020 '158 years later Perryville Battlefield Park to grow by hundreds of acres'