Upper Green River Biological Preserve

This special symbol of the Preserve, using the shapes of mussel shells as landforms on either side of the Green River, was created and donated by Mina Doerner.

The Upper Green River Biological Preserve comprises 671 acres of land located on both banks of the Green River in Hart County, Kentucky, about 2 miles upriver of Mammoth Cave National Park. Acquisition and initial management funding for the Preserve was provided by the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund. Land purchase was completed and the Preserve formally established early in 2004.

 

The mission of the WKU Upper Green River Biological Preserve is to foster knowledge and protection of this diverse region and our natural heritage through research, education, and conservation. The habitats of the Preserve include bottomlands, uplands, barrens, caves, limestone glades, and of course, the river itself. The upper Green River and its tributaries are centers of diversity for freshwater mussels and fish, hosting 109 fish species and nearly 60 mussel species. The Preserve lands surround several mussel beds, including one where five federally listed endangered mussels have been documented. A large spring known as McCoy Blue Hole is located on the northern tract of land; it empties an underground karst drainage of 34 mi², and an endangered cave shrimp has been recorded from the groundwater basin that feeds this spring. A federally endangered bat species has been recorded from a cave on the Preserve property. The Preserve also provides critical breeding and migratory habitat for neotropical songbirds along the Green River Corridor.

 

Projects currently underway at the Preserve include biological surveys of fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, mussels, endangered species, plants, butterflies, and other insects. Other projects in place include restoration of riparian corridors, bottomland hardwood forest, native grasslands and barrens, control of streambank erosion, mitigation of oil well impacts, release of native rehabilitated predatory birds, and studies of woodrat and other mammal populations.

 

Major programs in place at the Preserve include cooperation with Mammoth Cave National Park on several projects; a primary one is establishment of a mussel rearing facility that should help improve populations of freshwater mussels, including endangered species, in the Green River. Projects to restore blight-resistant American chestnut, American elm, butternut, switchcane, and selected herbaceous plants to appropriate habitats are also underway. Another program entails work within the USDA Green River Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program to re-establish riparian corridors and native grasses on a large scale, within the Preserve and within the region, to help mitigate historic and current agricultural impacts on water quality. Finally, education is a strong emphasis of activities at the preserve, ranging from community involvement in cleanups, canoeing expeditions by agency and non-governmental organization representatives, field trips by middle school students, and teacher education programs to active participation by undergraduate and graduate classes, as well as student participation in graduate and faculty research projects.

 

Co-directors of the Preserve are Dr. Albert Meier, Dr. Scott Grubbs, and Dr. Ouida Meier. Please feel free to contact us.

Research, teaching, and conservation toward preserving our natural heritage