This site protects most of the watershed of Beech Bingham Branch as it flows into the Rockcastle River, one of Kentucky’s legally designated Wild Rivers. It is named after Dr. William H. Martin, the founding chairman of the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund Board and emeritus ecology professor at Eastern Kentucky University. Dr. Martin’s specialty was the study of forest ecology; it is fitting that his namesake protects nearly 500 acres of Cumberland Plateau forest. An extensive sandstone cliffline is present here, as is a riparian forest dominated by Eastern hemlock. While a complete biological inventory has not been completed, potential plant species of interest include populations of Solidago gracillima (Southern bog goldenrod), Vitus rupestris (sand grape), and Comptonia peregrine (sweet fern) known from adjacent sites. Immediately downstream of the site the federally endangered Villosa trabalis (Cumberland bean pearly-mussel) and the imperiled Etheostoma cinereum (ashy darter) have been documented. This forest also provides summer roosting habitat for the federally endangered Indiana bat and several other bat species, as well as populations of the at-risk green salamander (Aneides aeneus).
Access:
This site is adjacent to the Daniel Boone National Forest and near the Bee Rock Campground located at the Highway 192 bridge as it crosses the Rockcastle River on the Pulaski and Laurel County line.