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assasin bug   Eastern pondhawk dragonfly(male)  red admiral butterfly bleeding mycena
© Dave Luzader

 

Registration form for our conference at Natural Bridge:Click Here


 

Kentucky Conservation Committee Annual Meeting
Saturday September 20, 2008:   10 am to 3:30 pm
With a 3:30 to 6:30 pm post conference tour of Floyds Fork

The mission of the Kentucky Conservation Committee is to work for sustainable use of renewable natural resources, prudent use of non-renewable resources, conservation and preservation of critical and unique areas, and a healthful environment for all Kentuckians.  We accomplish our mission by working with a coalition of environmental organizations and individuals to influence public environmental policy and legislation.   

Blackacre State Nature Preserve will be the site of the KCC’s annual meeting.   The theme of the meeting will be “Conserve Kentucky The Conserve Kentucky initiative began two years ago with a LRC sponsored task force, charged with studying:

“The Commonwealth's strategy for the protection of natural areas, farmlands, habitats and forests and produce recommendations for a comprehensive land stewardship and conservation program." www.lrc.ky.gov/Committee/Special/Conserv%20TF/home.htm

The annual meeting will provide participants with an update of the Task Force’s progress, and involve them in discussions of where to go from here, regarding proposed legislation for the 2009 session. Five panels, comprised of legislators, state agency, environmental organizations, educators and research scientists, will participate. The meeting will close with a discussion of KCC’s environmental legislative priorities for the upcoming session.

Blackacre State Nature Preserve is an ideal location to hold such discussions, as it is our Commonwealth’s first nature preserve in the Kentucky State Nature Preserve system.  Since 1982, The Blackacre Conservancy, (www.blackacreconservancy.org.), our host, has been actively protecting and interpreting the 180 acre Nature Preserve. Recently, the Conservancy has purchased 100 acres of land adjacent to the preserve which will be the site of a new nature and administrative center. Since the establishment of the preserve,  Jefferson County Public Schools, (www.jcpsky.net/ee), has led ecological investigations at Blackacre; these investigations focus on understanding the value of conserving Kentucky. 

The annual meeting will conclude with a tour of the Floyds Fork Corridor project, the largest new park project in the United States. The tour, led by Dr. Dan Jones, CEO and president of the 21st Century Parks, http://www.21cparks.org/, will be an up-close and personal view of the ecology, planning, challenges and opportunities of land conservation in an urban/suburban center. The tour will also provide the participant with an overview of the 105 Louisville Loop, http://www.louisvilleky.gov/MetroParks/cityofparks, clarifying Floyds Fork in its context as a cornerstone of the Loop project.

 Dr. David Wicks, (dwicks@bellsouth.net), is Local Arrangements Chair, and Russ Barnett, r.barnett@louisville.edu, is Program Chair for the meeting.  Contact them if you want to volunteer to help organize the annual meeting.  Registration information, update meeting agendas/schedules and local housing options will be available soon at KCC new website, www.kyconservation.org.


 

September 12-13, 2008: The Kentucky Association for Environmental Education (KAEE) Conference at Cumberland Falls State Park. For more information write them at KAEE, PO Box 17494, Louisville, KY 40217-0494, or go to their website at http://kentuckyassociationforenvironmentaleducation.org/.


September 20-21, 2008: Falls Fossil Festival at the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville, IN (right across the river from Louisville). Sat: 0900 – 1800, Sun: 1000 – 1700. For more information go to their website at: http://www.fallsoftheohio.org or contact Alan Goldstein, 201 West Riverside Drive, Clarksville, IN 47129, (812) 280-9970, park@fallsoftheohio.org.


September 26-28, 2008: Kentucky Ornithological Society’s Fall Meeting. Dale Hollow Lake State Resort Park. For more information contact KOS at http://www.biology.eku.edu/kos/default.htm

Louisville’s Beckham Bird Club meets every 2nd Tuesday at 7:00 PM (except March & June) usually at Harvey Browne Memorial Presbyterian Church, 311 Browns Lane (off Shelbyville Road), in Louisville, KY. They have also announced an extensive activities calendar online at http://www.beckhambirdclub.org. You may also contact them via email at beckhambirdclub@gmail.com or by writing them at Beckham Bird Club, Inc., P.O. Box 5301, Louisville, Kentucky 40255-0301


McCreary County Hiking Club formed in 2007. Hikers usually meet in Whitley City, KY. Hikers are notified via email or phone. For more information please contact Greg Whitis at gwhitis@uky.edu, (606) 376-2524, or visit the website at: http://ces.ca.uky.edu/mccreary/anr/McCreary%20County%20Hiking%20Club/Hiking%20Topics.htm.

KSNH State Conference Dates

Fall 2008
Natural Bridge State Resort Park, Sept. 26, 27, 2008

Spring 2009
Pine Mountain Settlement School, Spring 2009 April 24-26

Fall 2009
Reelfoot Lake, TBA

Spring 2010
Shawnee State Park, Ohio TBA

Check the Falls of the Ohio News for their activities.

 

© 2008 KSNH.ORG