Fort Knox, Kentucky
Last Edited: 5/5/2010

Background - Fort Knox is a 109,000 acre installation located 30 miles south of Louisville, Kentucky. It is within NABCI Central Hardwoods Bird Conservation Region (BCR24) and covered by PIF Interior Low Plateaus Bird Conservation Plan (Physiographic Area 14). Fort Knox consists mostly of second growth deciduous forest (oak-hickory) and grassland but also features riparian forest and wetlands. MAPS stations are located in deciduous forest (mature and disturbed) of both bottomland and upland areas and in managed grasslands or oldfield habitat.

Management Issues - Existing management plans for Fort Knox include timber harvest, prescribed fire, and cattle grazing. Beyond the effects of these activities, it has been suggested that recent commercial and residential development in the vicinity of Fort Knox may also be a factor in the installation wide declines in bird populations. MAPS is monitoring the response of a suite of species of management concern to these activities. Stations have been opportunistically moved to mid-successional oak-hickory forest and managed grassy meadowland for capturing Kentucky Warbler and Wood Thrush, two of the target species.

NLCD 2001 imagery of Fort Knox, KY and 20 km buffer (Nott, M. P. and T. Morris. 2007. Performance Measure Analysis: Examples of Comparing and Contrasting Installation-specific Demographics with Regional Demographics and Landscape Characteristics PDF (7MB) ).

MAPS Monitoring (1994-2008) - The MAPS Station Information file contains descriptions and geographic location information for the nine MAPS stations that have ever operated at Fort Knox. Station DULA was discontinued in 2002; LDLA in 2004; OHRI in 2006. They were replaced by COWL, ORLA, and GAPI respectively. No stations were run in 2003. Google Earth generated maps of the Fort Knox location (KNOX) and of each currently active station (CEDA, COWL, GAPI, MCSP, ORLA, SARI) show the specific arrangement of the nets and the associated vegetation.

Installation Contact:
Michael Brandenburg
Wildlife Biologist
mike.brandenburg@us.army.mil
Tel: 502-624-7368

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