Knobs State Forest and Wildlife Management Area is a 2,035 acre

state forest A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by a sovereign state, sovereign or federated state, or territory (country subdivision), territory. Background State forests are forests that are Administration (gov ...

located in

Bullitt County Bullitt County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 82,217. Its county seat is Shepherdsville. The county was founded in 1796. Located just south of the city ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The forest is located about 28 miles south of

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

. It is managed for

sustainable Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

production.

History

The tract of land that would eventually become Knobs State Forest and Wildlife Management Area is a former

tree farm In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated Plant stem, stem, or trunk (botany), trunk, usually supporting Branch, branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only Bark (botan ...

that has a long history of

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, truckscleared and was then selectively logged in 1980s and 1990s. Dr. James G. Kuhns and his sister Mrs. Anne E. Kuhns-van der Steur inherited the land, and out of concern of rapid industrialization in the area, sold it to the State of Kentucky in order to preserve it in perpetuity using $3.3 million from the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund. In July 2006 1,110 acres from that purchase were used to establish Knobs State Forest. Making it the Kentucky's sixth state owned forest and its first Forest Legacy Project. It was expanded in November 2006 and again in October 2018 with the purchase of 429 and 496 acres respectively. The 2018 purchase was part of a project to create a

wildlife corridor A wildlife corridor, also known as a habitat corridor, or green corridor, is a designated area habitat (ecology), that connects wildlife populations that have been separated by human activities or structures, such as development, roads, or land ...

linking Knobs State Forest with nearby

Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest Bernheim Forest and Arboretum, formerly Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, is a arboretum, forest, and nature preserve located in Clermont, Kentucky (25 miles south of Louisville, Kentucky, United States). Bernheim was founded in 1929 by ...

. Incidentally, during the period 1959–1980, 4,000 acres of the Bernheim property was leased by the

State of Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the northeast, Virginia to the east, Tennes ...

and bore the name ''Knobs State Forest''.

Ecology

The area of the reserve is 93% forested with the remaining 7% being open land. It is dominated by upland hardwoods. It contains at least 198 different plant species including one infrequent species; the butterfly pea.

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

and

chestnut oak ''Quercus montana'', the chestnut oak, is a species of oak in the white oak group, ''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus''. It is native to the eastern United States, where it is one of the most important ridgetop trees from southern Maine southwest to ...

account for 60% of the tree

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

. There are no

lakes A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

ponds A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression, either naturally or artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing the two, although defining a pond t ...

in the forest. The only water sources are Crooked Creek in the north of the forest and Cain Run which originates in the south of the forest.

Recreation

Knobs State forest is open to the public for day use. Common activities are hiking, hunting, and wildlife viewing. The forest contains 5.8 miles across three maintained hiking trails, all of which are old logging roads. In addition, there is also one 1.2 mile trail that has been abandoned. Common game species are deer, turkey, and squirrel. While fishing is allowed in the forest, all water sources are intermittent, limiting fishing opportunities.

References

{{Kentucky Parks Kentucky state forests Protected areas established in 2006 Protected areas of Bullitt County, Kentucky 2006 establishments in Kentucky

History

Ecology

Recreation

See also

References