Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves

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 habitat. [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:

  • 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 areas owned by other state agencies;
  • 8,260 acres owned by private landowners and other agencies in 59 Registered Natural Areas;
  • 26,382 acres owned by private landowners and other agencies in 9 Wild Rivers Corridors.

The grand 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

References
  1. Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves
  2. The Lexington Herald Leader "How Kentucky selects state nature preserves, December 18, 2020"
  3. The Lane Report "Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves Established, June 7, 2018"
  4. The Lane Report 2019 State Establishes Abbey of Gethsemane Registered Natural Area
  5. ‘Extraordinary property.’ Kentucky adds its first new nature preserve in a decade. Lexington Herald Leader Dec 28, 2020
  6. WTVQ October 8 2020 '158 years later Perryville Battlefield Park to grow by hundreds of acres'
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