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 some agency of a sovereign or federated state, or territory. Background The precise application of the terms vary by jurisdiction. For example: * In Australia, a ...

located in Bullitt County,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The forest is located about 28 miles south of

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

. It is managed for sustainable

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

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 stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are u ...

that has a long history of logging. In the 1840s the forest was rapidly cleared 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, habitat corridor, or green corridor is an area of habitat connecting wildlife populations separated by human activities or structures (such as roads, development, or logging). This allows an exchange of individuals between ...

linking Knobs State Forest with nearby Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest. Incidentally, during the period 1959–1980, 4,000 acres of the Bernheim property was leased by the State of Kentucky and bore the name ''Knobs State Forest''.

Ecology

The area of the reserve is 93% forested with the remaining 7% being open land. 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 hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

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 ...

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 ...

. There are no lakes or

ponds A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from 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