OKNP Fund
Thank you for your interest in contributing to the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves. Your donation helps to protect the best remaining natural areas in the state, not only to preserve our natural heritage, but also in recognition of the dependence of our well-being on healthy ecosystems. Visit our donation form to make your donation today!
Keith MacAdam Endowment
The Keith MacAdam Endowment for the Kentucky Nature Preserves was established in 2018 in memory of Dr. Keith
MacAdam (pictured with wife, Phyllis, below) through the Blue Grass Community Foundation. The endowment fund generates money exclusively for the management of trails on state natural areas.
The KNP system includes over 60 nature preserves, from the 3,000-acre Blanton Forest State Nature Preserve in Harlan County, the Commonwealth's largest old-growth forest, to the 40-acre Logan County Glades State Nature Preserve in Russellville. KNP is also involved with another 80 natural areas through its management of the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund program. There are over a hundred miles of hiking trails in the system for passive recreation.
The Keith MacAdam Endowment has been used to create and maintain trails on Tom Dorman State Nature Preserve, Crooked Creek Barrens State Nature Preserve, Pilot Knob State Nature Preserve, and Bad Branch State Nature Preserve, among many others.
To donate, visit the Blue Grass Community Foundation's website and select the Keith MacAdam Endowment for Kentucky Nature Preserves fund name. All proceeds are used for KNP trail improvement projects.
Sherri Evans Memorial Fund
Through the generosity of the East Kentucky Power Cooperative, the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves started the Sherri Evans Memorial Fund in honor of the late botanist Sherri Evans who passed away September 1999.
Sherri was a dedicated biologist. She spent 17 years diligently working to protect Kentucky’s unique natural resources and educate the public about their values. Sherri started her environmental protection work as a biologist for the nongame wildlife program at the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. She then took on the task of coordinating the Kentucky Wild Rivers Program where she worked fervently to conserve high-quality streams and rivers in the Commonwealth. Sherri left the Wild Rivers Program to start Shooting Star Nursery, Kentucky’s first nursery dedicated to propagating and promoting Kentucky’s native plants. Sherri went back to KDFWR to help them begin their native plant program.
Sherri’s greatest passion was to protect the natural biodiversity of Kentucky. One of her tools to accomplish this was to promote the use of native species in habitat restoration, as well as home landscaping. Sherri’s energy and dedication to the field of conservation is greatly missed. To keep this legacy alive, we can think of no better way to honor Sherri's memory than through the memorial fund. The fund is used to support research on Kentucky's state nature preserves for projects that benefit native plant and animal species.
If you would like to make a contribution to this fund, send your check made payable to:
The Sherri Evans Memorial Fund
c/o The Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves
300 Sower Blvd - 4th Fl
Frankfort, KY 40601
A donation to the Sherri Evans Memorial Fund would make a thoughtful gift to an ecologically minded person. If you choose to do so, we will provide a thank you note to inform your friend of this unique gift.
Nature and Wildlife Fund
Donations to the Nature and Wildlife Fund made through the State Income Tax Checkoff Program are divided between the Wildlife Diversity Branch of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves. The KNP uses checkoff program donations for both land acquisition and nature preserve management. Checkoff donations are used to construct hiking trails, trail maintenance, and habitat management. The KNP is grateful to every Kentuckian who has chosen to contribute to the Nature and Wildlife Fund through the Kentucky Income Tax Checkoff Program.
The KNP has used checkoff donations to help acquire:
- Bad Branch State Nature Preserve in Letcher County
- Brigadoon State Nature Preserve in Barren County
- Metropolis Lake State Nature Preserve in McCracken County
- Pilot Knob State Nature Preserve in Powell County
- Blanton Forest, the state's largest old-growth forest in Harlan County.
Your tax deductible donations play a critical role in protecting and managing the best examples of Kentucky's natural environment for our future. Donating is simple. Check off the amount you wish to contribute. If you are not due a refund you may contribute by sending a check directly to:
Nature and Wildlife Fund
300 Sower Blvd - 4th Floor
Frankfort, KY 40601
Kentucky Nature License Plates
Help keep Kentucky a natural state! Buy a nature license plate when you register your car, light truck or SUV on your birthday. Money from the sale of the plate goes into the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund for purchasing natural areas to be left as wild places held in trust for future generations. Since the program began in 1995, Kentuckians have contributed more than $10 million.
Of the $25 total cost of registering a motor vehicle, $12 goes to the Transportation Cabinet for the production of the plate, $3 goes to your county clerk for the processing fee and $10 goes to the Heritage Land Conservation Fund. It is used to purchase land from willing sellers for nature preserves, state parks and forests, wildlife management areas, recreation and environmental education areas, wild river corridors and wetlands.
Purchase your Kentucky Nature Plate online or at your local county clerk's office. Visit the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund Nature Plates page for more information.