Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission
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Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission
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. The agency's primary focus is protecting rare and endangered species habitats. 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. As of July 1, 2018, Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves programs include: * 19,217 acres owned by KNP in 41 State Nature Preserves; * 6,245 acres owned by KNP in 6 State Natural Areas; * 7,324 acres dedicated by KNP in 22 State Nature Preserves owned by partnering agencies; * 11,894 acres in conservation easements at 52 KHLCF natural areas owned by local concerns; * 59,556 acres of deed-restricted property in 26 KHLCF natural ...
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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 northeast, Virginia to the east, Tennessee to the south, and Missouri to the west. Its northern border is defined by the Ohio River. Its capital is Frankfort, Kentucky, Frankfort and its List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city is Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville. As of 2024, the state's population was approximately 4.6 million. Previously part of Colony of Virginia, colonial Virginia, Kentucky was admitted into the Union as the fifteenth state on June 1, 1792. It is known as the "Bluegrass State" in reference to Kentucky bluegrass, a species of grass introduced by European settlers which has long supported the state's thoroughbred horse industry. The fertile soil in the central and western parts of the state led to the development ...
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John James Audubon State Park
John James Audubon State Park is located on U.S. Route 41 in Kentucky, U. S. Route 41 in Henderson, Kentucky, just south of the Ohio River. Its inspiration is John James Audubon, the ornithologist, natural history, naturalist, and Painting, painter who resided in Henderson from 1810 to 1819 when Henderson was a frontier village. The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. with . Most of the park has been dedicated as a state nature preserve by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves, which also added a 650-acre addition in 2016 through its Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund program. History John James Audubon operated small businesses in Henderson, Kentucky with mixed success, but his passion was exploring the forests of the region and sketching and painting wildlife, particularly birds. In 1934, the Wolf Hills area in Henderson was selected for a new state park (meeting the minimum 300 acres needed for park development). Susan Towles, a Hend ...
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State Agencies Of Kentucky
State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a state where the majority identify with a single nation (with shared culture or ethnic group) ** Constituent state, a political subdivision of a state ** Federated state, constituent states part of a federation *** U.S. state * State of nature, a concept within philosophy that describes the way humans acted before forming societies or civilizations State may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * The State (newspaper), ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our State'', a monthly magazine published in North Carolina and formerly called ''The State'' * The State (Larry Niven), a fictio ...
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Kentucky River Palisades
The Kentucky River Palisades are a series of steep, scenic gorges and limestone outcroppings that stretch for approximately 100 mi (160 km), along the Kentucky River in central Kentucky in the United States. Geology The Kentucky River Palisades is a cliff-lined entrenched meander. The meanders originally formed on the Lexington Peneplain. As sea-level lowered during the Quaternary Period, base level lowered and the meander-form river eroded downward into Ordovician-age limestones, shales, and dolomites in the Central Bluegrass Region. The Lexington Limestone, which covers most of this area, is composed of interbedded shales and thin limestones. Erosion of these lithologies usually form gentle to moderate slopes. However, the Kentucky River Fault system, part of which runs along the Palisades, provides another controlling factor. Movement along the fault has been largely vertical. Strata on the north side of the fault were raised several hundred feet relative to tho ...
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Tom Dorman State Nature Preserve
Tom Dorman State Nature Preserve is located in both Garrard and Jessamine county Kentucky and protects a section of the Kentucky River Palisades. The preserve is owned by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves, and encompasses of cliffs, bluffs, and bottomland. In 2007, the Kentucky State Parks announced the purchase of 90 acres (360,000 m2) adjacent to Tom Dorman State Nature Preserve for the creation of the new Palisades State Park, but that property was subsequently incorporated into the State Nature Preserve. The Palisades harbor many rare species for the Bluegrass due to the unusual landscape. The state endangered plants found on Tom Dorman's cliffs are starry cleft phlox ('' Phlox bifida'' var. ''stellaria''), Eggleston's violet ('' Viola egglestonii''), and tufted hair-grass (''Deschampsia cespitosa ''Deschampsia'' is a genus of plants in the grass family Poaceae, commonly known as hair grass or tussock grass. The genus is widespread across many countries.
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Six Mile Island State Nature Preserve
Six Mile Island is a Kentucky state nature preserve located on the Ohio River upstream of Louisville, Kentucky. About The Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves owns and manages the preserve, which was dedicated June 24, 1979.Six Mile Island SNP
The reserve is an undeveloped riverine island and is known for its extensive variety of . Six Mile Island is only accessible by boat, but it is open to the public. The island was named for its distance from the , much like



Pilot Knob State Nature Preserve
Pilot Knob State Nature Preserve is located in Powell County, Kentucky, USA. It is a 1,257.93 acre nature preserve in Eastern Kentucky.“Pilot Knob State Nature Preserve Hiking Trails.” Eec.Ky.Gov, eec.ky.gov/Nature-Preserves/Locations/Pages/Pilot-Knob.aspx. Retrieved July 1, 2021. A outcrop, known as Pilot Knob, is believed to be the place where legendary frontiersman Daniel Boone and his companion John Finley first looked out over the area in 1769.“Pilot Knob Brochure.” Eec.Ky.Gov, eec.ky.gov/Nature-Preserves/Brochures/PilotKnobBrochure_color.pdf. Retrieved July 1, 2021. It is owned and managed by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves. Geography and nature Pilot Knob State Nature Preserve initially consisted of 308 acres that were dedicated on September 26, 1985, while an additional 949.93 acres were later added by the Kentucky Land Heritage Conservation Fund, bringing the total to 1,257.93 acres. The highest point of the preserve, Pilot Knob, sits at an elevation ...
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Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site
Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site is a park near Perryville, Kentucky. The park continues to expand with purchases of parcels by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves' Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund and the American Battlefield Trust. An interpretive museum is located near the site where many Confederate soldiers killed in the Battle of Perryville were buried. Monuments, interpretive signage, and cannons also mark notable events during the battle. The site became part of the Kentucky State Park System in 1936. Battle The battle was fought on October 8, 1862, between the U.S. Army of the Ohio, commanded by U.S. Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell, and the Confederate Army of Mississippi, commanded by Gen. Braxton Bragg. The battle was a tactical victory for the Confederates but a strategic victory for the United States because Bragg withdrew his army from Kentucky, which remained in U.S. hands for the remainder of the war. Perryville's homes and farms were left ...
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Murphy's Pond
Murphy's Pond (sometimes referred to as Murphy Pond) is a wetlands complex located in Hickman County, Kentucky. While only about in size, the pond is notable for being one of the largest bald cypress swamps remaining in Kentucky and for its high cottonmouth snake (''Agkistrodon piscivorus'') population density. To protect the pond from the effects of surrounding commercial development, the pond and its immediate surroundings were added to the Obion Creek Wildlife Management Area by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves in 2005, forming the Obion Creek and Murphy's Pond State Nature Preserve, which further grew to in 2007. The pond itself is owned and managed by Murray State University, located 30 miles east in Murray, Kentucky. Murray State acquired the property in 1975 with a grant from The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. it works via affiliates or branches ...
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Natural Bridge State Park (Kentucky)
Natural Bridge State Resort Park is a public recreation area located along the Middle Fork of the Red River, two miles south of the unincorporated community of Slade, in Powell and Wolfe counties, Kentucky, United States. The state park lies adjacent to the Red River Gorge geologic area and is surrounded by the Daniel Boone National Forest. Its namesake natural bridge is the centerpiece of the park. The natural sandstone arch spans and is high. The natural process of weathering formed the arch over millions of years. Some of the most famous sites in the park are the arch itself, "Lover's Leap", and "Fat Man's Squeeze". The park is approximately , of which around is dedicated by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves as a nature preserve. In 1981, this land was dedicated into the nature preserves system to protect the ecological communities and rare species habitat. The first federally endangered Virginia big-eared bats, ''Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus'', recorded in ...
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Kingdom Come State Park
Kingdom Come State Park is a part of Kentucky's state park system in Harlan County atop Pine Mountain near the city of Cumberland. It was named after the 1903 best-selling novel '' The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come'' by native Kentuckian John Fox, Jr. Features of the park include Raven Rock, Log Rock, and a mountain lake. The section of the park is also a legally dedicated state nature preserve by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves. Park features Natural formations Raven Rock is a naturally bare, large rock face composed mostly of limestone, leaning at a 45° angle over in the air. Nearby is the Cave Amphitheater. In the back of the Cave Amphitheater are deep crevices that house thousands of bats. Also within the park is a natural sandstone bridge called "Log Rock", which resembles a petrified tree that has fallen over. The Log Rock has been severely vandalized over the years, and the underside is now covered with people's names that they have spray-painted or scratc ...
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Cumberland Falls
Cumberland Falls, sometimes called the Little Niagara, the Niagara of the South, or the Great Falls, is a waterfall on the Cumberland River in southeastern Kentucky. Spanning the river at the border of McCreary and Whitley counties, the waterfall is the central feature of Cumberland Falls State Resort Park and is part of the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves designated Wild River System. It is believed the current falls formed as the result of erosion from its original starting place at an escarpment far downstream. The site of the falls was occupied in pre-modern times by a variety of indigenous peoples, and more recently has passed through multiple private owners until eventually being donated, along with surrounding land to Kentucky in 1933. A moonbow is regularly visible at this site. History Formation It is believed that Cumberland Falls originated at the Pottsville Escarpment, near modern-day Burnside, Kentucky, and retreated to its current location approximately ...
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