Kentucky forest at risk: Daniel Boone National Forest

In Daniel Boone National forest, the soaring canopies of 150-year-old trees shelter a rich watershed. It’s one of the wildest places remaining in Kentucky — but it’s currently at risk.

The National Forest Service has been planning a logging project in this priceless forest since 2021. If it’s allowed to proceed, it would change this vital landscape forever.

The threat to Daniel Boone National Forest

The so-called “South Red Bird Wildlife Enhancement Project” would clear cut nearly 4,000 acres of public lands, devastating the forest and cutting down one-quarter of all the area’s forests that are more than 100 years old.

Cutting down so many trees would be an enormous loss to both the wildlife that depend on them and the people who enjoy visiting and hiking there. And the damage wouldn’t stop at the trees: A nearby, similar logging project resulted in four landslides. 

Without healthy trees to anchor the soil, the landslides dumped sediment into creeks, harmed water quality, obliterated understory habitat, and facilitated the spread of invasive species. Clear cutting so much of Daniel Boone National Forest would put the local landscape at similar risk.

Daniel Boone National Forest’s wildlife depends on the trees

Mature forests like this are not only valuable because they provide perfect habitat for wildlife. Large, connected stands of mature trees also act like corridors that animals can use to traverse the landscape and keep their populations healthy. 

Daniel Boone National Forest is abundant in wildlife. Some of the east coast’s most iconic animals like black bears, white tailed deer, elk, foxes, and mink all call this place home.

The forest is also notable for providing a safe haven for threatened and endangered bats. Indiana bats, northern long-eared bats, and gray bats all live here, and their populations may not continue to thrive if the trees they call home are destroyed. Bats are essential pollinators and seed dispersers. If the bats vanish, the entire ecosystem will be affected. 

The mature and old-growth trees of Daniel Boone National Forest also shade pristine creeks that shelter even more endangered species. Endangered snuffbox mussels and Kentucky arrow darters require clean water to survive. The sediment and pollution a logging project would bring could destroy these fragile endangered species. 

How to protect Daniel Boone National Forest

Most of our oldest forests are unprotected from logging on the lands that the U.S. Forest Service manages. Daniel Boone National Forest isn’t the only one at risk. Right now, there are dozens of proposed logging projects in our oldest forests nationwide.

But all hope is not lost — the U.S. Forest Service is considering creating first-ever protections for old-growth forests. A strong forest policy can keep our oldest trees safe and standing tall for future generations.

As for the threatened trees in Daniel Boone National Forest specifically, the project was first proposed in 2021, and logging has not yet begun. In 2022, Kentucky Heartwood filed a lawsuit challenging the project, citing its failure to disclose the environmental harm from the proposed logging.

To defend Daniel Boone National Forest from logging, we’re working with local groups including Kentucky Heartwood to call for protections.