Editing Kentucky (section)

===Natural environment and conservation===
[[File:WaterfrontPkDwnt.jpg|thumb|Once an industrial area, Louisville's waterfront has thousands of trees and miles of walking trails.]]

Kentucky hosts multiple habitats with a high number of [[endemic]] species, including some of the most extensive cave systems in the world. 102 known species are endemic to the state.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Abernathy |first1=Greg |last2=White |first2=Deborah |last3=Laudermilk |first3=Ellis L. |last4=Evans |first4=Marc |title=Kentucky's Natural Heritage: An Illustrated Guide to Biodiversity |date=2010 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |pages=42–43}}</ref> The Bluegrass region, which is believed to have once been a lush open woodland environment similar to [[oak savanna]] with abundant thickets of [[Arundinaria gigantea|river cane]], a species of [[bamboo]], was once described by [[E. Lucy Braun]] as having the most "anomalous" plant life of the whole Eastern United States.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kimmerer |first1=Tom |title=Venerable Trees: History, Biology, and Conservation in the Bluegrass |date=2015 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |location=Lexington, Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-6566-0 |page=73}}</ref> Kentucky's natural environment has suffered greatly from destructive human activities that began after European colonization, particularly the conversion of natural habitat to farmland and [[Coal mining in Appalachia|coal mining]].

Kentucky has an expansive park system, which includes one national park, two National Recreation Areas, two National Historic Parks, two [[United States National Forest|national forests]], two National Wildlife Refuges, 45 [[state park]]s, {{convert|37896|acre|km2|0}} of state forest, and 82 [[wildlife management area]]s.

Kentucky has been part of two of the most successful wildlife reintroduction projects in United States history. In the winter of 1997, the [[Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources]] began to re-stock [[elk]] in the state's eastern counties, which had been extirpated from the area for over 150 years. {{as of|2009}}, the herd had reached the project goal of 10,000 animals, making it the largest herd east of the [[Mississippi River]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://fw.ky.gov/elkinfo.asp?lid=1653&NavPath=C117C147C301C547 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060926064155/http://fw.ky.gov/elkinfo.asp?lid=1653&NavPath=C117C147C301C547 |archive-date=September 26, 2006 |title=Elk Restoration Update and Hunting Information |publisher=Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources |access-date=December 9, 2006 }}</ref>

The state stocked [[wild turkey]]s in the 1950s, after reportedly having fewer than 900. Once nearly extinct, wild turkeys thrive throughout Kentucky.<ref>{{cite news|last=Pearce|first=Tom|title=Once nearly extinct, turkeys gobbling throughout state|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1696&dat=19940327&id=T_4aAAAAIBAJ&pg=6989,2846713&hl=en|access-date=May 15, 2016|work=Bowling Green Daily News|date=March 27, 1994|archive-date=February 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220153301/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1696&dat=19940327&id=T_4aAAAAIBAJ&pg=6989%2C2846713&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref> Hunters reported a record 29,006 birds taken during the 23-day season in spring 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://fw.ky.gov/app/news/newsdetail.aspx?id=542 |title=Hunters Take Record Number of Spring Turkey |website=Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Service |access-date=January 17, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130117104812/http://fw.ky.gov/app/news/newsdetail.aspx?id=542 |archive-date=January 17, 2013 }}</ref>

In 1991 the Land Between the Lakes partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the Red Wolf Recovery Program, a captive breeding program.<ref>{{cite web|date=October 6, 2015|title=Wolf Week Spotlight: The Endangered Red Wolf|url=https://www.landbetweenthelakes.us/wolf-week-spotlight-the-endangered-red-wolf/|access-date=November 30, 2020|website=Land Between the Lakes|archive-date=December 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211185359/https://www.landbetweenthelakes.us/wolf-week-spotlight-the-endangered-red-wolf/|url-status=live}}</ref>