Western Kentucky University
OP-10: Biodiversity

The Green River Preserve is 1500 acres of land with seven miles of frontage on the Green River just up stream from Mammoth Cave National Park. The preserve is legally protected as a nature preserve that has state and federal protection easements attached. The Green River is one of the three most biodiverse rivers in the nation, and the preserve protects one of the two most biodiverse sites on the Green River. In fact, the preserve protects habitat where 12 different federally endangered species have been recorded. This ties Great Smoky Mountains National Park for number of endangered species making the Green River Preserve one of the richest sites for endangered species on the planet.

WKU also owns Crump Springs Cave which protects a colony of federally endangered Gray Bats. Furthermore, we have several other minor environmental areas. These include the Potter Nicely Outdoor Education Area, a farm on Barren River reservoir, and the McChesney Campus on the Green River.

No certified endangered or vulnerable species with habitats were identify on the WKU main campus. A population of white squirrels can be found on the campus, and they are strictly protected. We have nine federally endangered mussel species, two federally endangered bat species, and one federally endangered cave shrimp species on a biodiversity property owned by the university. There are endangered and endemic cave species in the Crumps Cave preserve owned by WKU.

We have nine federally endangered mussel species, two federally endangered bat species, and one federally endangered cave shrimp species on a biodiversity property owned by the university. The primary sensitive habitat is the seven miles of river frontage that we protect. We also protect remnant barrens and limestone flat rock glades.

There are endangered and endemic cave species in the Crumps Cave preserve owned by WKU. Students and faculty actively manage and conduct research. It is a Kentucky Land Heritage property and was granted to WKU.

The preserve has identified and developed management plans for environmentally sensitive areas. It is also involved in restoration of rare and endangered species and habitats. We conduct periodic inventories of mussels (including endangered), rare plants, and migratory birds. Environmental DNA was recently used for Palaemonias ganteri (Kentucky Cave Shrimp). Bats have been monitored with Anabat. Sensitive areas are visited every few months to evaluate for troubling changes in the ecosystem.

A comprehensive assessment was conducted of each property. Teams of archaeologists, hydrologists, geologists, environmental scientists, biologist, and ecologist were involved to ensure a comprehensive assessment of each property. We have over 1,000 pages of final management reports. We don't put these on the internet because of environmentally sensitive information.

We have an endangered mussel rearing facility on site. In collaboration with MACA, USFWS, and Monte McGregor of KDFW several federally endangered mussel species have been released by the hundreds in to the Green River. We hope to keep the facility on site, and we hope to host additional releases in the future. We will continue to protect seven miles of river front in perpetuity. We have planted over 14,000 bottomland hardwoods in river bottom fields. It is our intention to continue purchasing, protecting, and restoring bottomland hardwoods in the Green River floodplain in the future.

We protect several caves and all appropriate trees for Indiana bats. We hope to purchase more of both in the future. We purchased 350 acres in 2013 alone. We are rearing and planting several uncommon species of plants including Helianthus eggertii and Silene regia. We hope to expand this work to include Trifoleum reflexum in the future.