Forestry and Open Lands Management
Land Between The Lakes (LBL) National Recreation Area supports the USDA Forest Service mission to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations through forestry and open lands management. LBL hosts a diversity of native plant and animal communities. Sustainable natural resource stewardship integrates forest, open lands, fire, and wildlife management. Together, these programs help restore native habitats, protect ecosystems, and increase watershed health by responding to environmental threats such as non-native invasive species (NNIS). Visit LBL to discover the benefits of native habitat and wildlife management.
Forestry Management
As long as humans have inhabited the region, there has been forest management -- from Native Americans' use of fire to clear land to modern-day agriculture and industry. Early forest management at LBL consisted of planting trees such as Virginia pine, oak, and bald cypress to control erosion and provide winter wildlife cover. 
Today, LBL focuses on encouraging the growth of native species such as shortleaf pines, oaks, hickories, native warm season grasses, and forbs which provides habitat for a diversity of wildlife. LBL has over 1,130 native flora species!
In combination with prescribed fire, timber thinnings are used to manage LBL's forest. Selectively cutting trees allows sunlight to reach the forest floor, while prescribed burning helps provide bare mineral soil for seeds to germinate. These two processes help mimic naturally occurring conditions that are essential for species like shortleaf pine, oaks, and hickories to continue their life cycle. If left completely unmanaged, LBL's forest composition would shift toward maple and beech trees, species that prefer shade. Maple trees do not produce nuts that wildlife can feed on. This would negatively impact many different wildlife species, including songbirds, deer, squirrel, and wild turkey, which for thousands of years have fed on the acorns and nuts of LBL's oak and hickory forest. Young plants that flourish after a timber thinning or a prescribed burn play a major role in providing food and diverse habitat for LBL's 356 species of wildlife.
Open Lands Management
While most of LBL is forested, 7% (12,050 acres) consists of open lands. LBL works with partners such as the National Wild Turkey Federation and Quail Unlimited to manage these areas. Cooperative farming activities also take place on about 3,900 acres of open lands. Crops such as corn, soybeans, winter wheat, and hay are grown by licensed private farmers who leave up to 20% of their crop behind for wildlife. Farmers must comply with the direction in the Land and Resource Management Plan, or Area Plan, regarding pesticide use and other agricultural practices. There are also wooded openings scattered throughout LBL which provide diverse habitat and food for wildlife. In total, they comprise 1,050 acres. Open lands are maintained to enhance biodiversity, provide food for wildlife, and give the public much desired wildlife viewing opportunities.
Research and Restoration Projects
Threatened Species
LBL is home to the country's largest concentration of Price's potato-bean (Apios priceana), a vine-like perennial in the pea family. It has deep green foliage and small white flowers. American Indians used the tuber, or root of the plant, for food. The plant has very specific habitat requirements and is found along shoreline areas and on the edge of forests. Price's potato- bean is listed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as a threatened species; habitat loss due to cattle grazing and clear-cutting have severely diminished the plant's numbers across the country. According to the USFWS, only 13 populations of Price's potato-bean exist today. The Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission has been studying LBL's populations in an effort to monitor and develop a long-term management plan. Current practices include protecting the populations from human activity and removing competing vegetation in the surrounding area.
Insect Threats
The most serious insect threats to LBL's forests are leaf defoliators such as the gypsy moth, and boring insects such as the emerald ash borer and various oak borers. Native and exotic insects are problematic because they can impact recreation, wildlife, and fish habitat. They also can increase fire hazard, decrease tree growth and yield, and even kill trees.
The emerald ash borer is a small 1/2 to 3/4 inch, emerald colored, winged insect that lays eggs in the bark of branches in all ash species. The emerald ash borer is devastating to forests because it usually goes undetected until the ash tree dies. Over 20 million trees have already been killed in the US. The natural spread of the emerald ash borer is sped up by humans transporting ash nursery stock, firewood, and logs. Although the insect hasn't been found at LBL, it has been found in Kentucky and surrounding states. LBL monitors for the emerald ash borer and discourages visitors from bringing in firewood from outside areas.
The gypsy moth is a NNIS from Europe and Asia that was introduced into the US in 1868. It has devastated forests in all or parts of 19 states in the eastern US. It defoliates or removes leaves from hardwood trees, eventually killing weaker trees. Luckily, national programs to slow the spread of the gypsy moth have reduced its spread from 13 miles per year to 5-6 miles per year. Since 1973, LBL has been monitoring for the gypsy moth; so far, only two male gypsy moths have been trapped.
Oak borers are native insects that are found in LBL. They drill holes into the cambium, the growing inner bark layer, of the tree. These holes prevent the trees from transferring nutrients and water from the root system to the leaves.
Insects such as the emerald ash borer, gypsy moth, and oak borer harm wildlife habitat diversity because they prevent trees from providing food and cover for wildlife. LBL works proactively with other USDA agencies to monitor these threats. Pheromone traps are put out every year to monitor for gypsy moths and emerald ash borers.
Perhaps the best known of LBL's open lands is its 750-acre Elk & Bison Prairie. This area is a demonstration of West Kentucky and Middle Tennessee's native "barrens" landscape, and the native wildlife that once roamed these lands. Barrens are a prairie-like ecosystem characterized by tall grasses such as Indian Grass and bluestem, dotted with small clumps of hardwood trees.
Forest Diseases
LBL forests are threatened by oak decline, which is a series of factors leading to higher rates of oak mortality. Oak decline is caused first by existing factors such as poor soil, forest composition, and tree age; second, by environmental factors such as wildfire, insect defoliation, drought, or ice damage. Finally, contributing factors such as root and canker pathogens and boring insects can kill trees. Basically, oak trees that are already stressed and weakened from poor growing conditions and are impacted by various disturbances are more likely to stop growing and die.
More recently, LBL land managers have become concerned about Sudden Oak Death, a fungus that began in nurseries in California and is being spread east by nursery stock. It impacts more than 30 species of eastern hardwoods including oaks, maples, buckeyes, chestnuts, beech, and ash. Although Sudden Oak Death hasn't been found at LBL, the area is at a very high risk for the disease which can quickly wipe out vast amounts of trees. LBL's Area Plan includes restoration projects to address oak diseases and decline, especially in red oak species whose acorns are a major food source for wildlife.
International Recognition
The significance of LBL's forests and open lands was recognized in 1991 when LBL was designated an International Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations. Since then, 25% of LBL, 42,500 acres total, has been set aside as a Biosphere Reserve or Core Area. These protected areas are open to most public uses but are minimally managed. This Biosphere Reserve designation recognizes LBL's important natural resources and helps meet regional biodiversity needs. Visit LBL and discover the forest for yourself!
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