Natural History Tidbit
Nature along Floyds Fork: The Special Places Project
Each quarter we will present a special place from The Fork, based on the work our naturalist, Michael Gaige, has done in what we call "The Special Places Project," an innovative approach to cataloguing and interpreting those places within the landscape that tell stories about its natural and cultural history. This month we describe the project; in the future we will bring you exciting finds and stories from our many walks in the woods and along the streams and hillsides of The Fork.
A walk anywhere along Floyds Fork reveals the vocabulary of an exciting natural history: mussel shells, fossils, native plants, and traces of charismatic fauna, are all present. In exploring the lands within our project, we have found over 400 species of native plants, over 40 species of fish, 20 species of freshwater mussels, and more than 140 species of birds. Using that knowledge, our naturalist, Michael Gaige, has investigated and catalogued almost 300 sites that have been chosen to tell the story of the interplay of The Fork's natural and cultural heritage. From rock outcrops filled with fossils to gravel bars in the creek to old tobacco barns and stone walls, these sites are located throughout The Fork and will be accessible from the trail system. Each point has been assigned a Global Positioning identity and then described within a thematic framework that will be made available to local naturalists and educators with a goal of bringing children, adults, and families back into nature. In the future, the sites will be integrated with our website so all of this information is easily available as a "digital interpretive trail" that will further understanding and appreciation of Kentucky's unique landscape and its natural and cultural heritage. In addition to providing input to the Master Plan, this inventory provides the foundation for long-term educational and interpretive programming that will both serve the park and area educators, naturalists, and schools. These sites include features such as the largest tree specimens, as well as geologic, hydrologic, and cultural features that demonstrate the changing face of The Fork throughout both natural and human history.