Daniel Boone National Forest
The Daniel Boone National Forest is a standing under the administration of the United States Forest Service National Forest in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. He has a total area of around 2800 km ² and thus comprises about five percent of Kentucky's forest area. The forest area covers 21 counties of the State; of Rowan County in the north to McCreary County in the south. The the Daniel Boone National Forest lands belonging, situated partly in public and partly in private ownership.
The Daniel Boone National Forest is divided into six districts, with five of these districts - from north to south are the Morehead, Stanton, London, Somerset and Stearns - form a contiguous area. The sixth is the added purchased in 1965 Redbird District, which is east of the other districts a separated area. The National Forest is through the combination of unspoilt wilderness on the one hand and well-developed tourist infrastructure on the other hand, a popular tourist area and, with over 5,000,000 visitors a year to the most visited forests of the American South. He has a selection of leisure and recreational opportunities for campers, hikers, mountain climbers, fishermen and hunters.
History
Named after the U.S. national hero Daniel Boone National Forest was established in 1937. He was first called Cumberland National Forest, after the Cumberland River, which flows through the area. 1965 extended to the area of the Daniel Boone National Forest by buying the Redbird District. The renaming of the National Forest in 1966 by the then U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Terrain
Forested ridges, narrow valleys, waterfalls and steep sandstone cliffs along the rivers shape the image of the Daniel Boone National Forest. The National Forest is home to two large man-made lakes, the Cave Run Lake and Laurel River Lake. The Red River, the Cumberland River, the Rockcastle River and the Big South Fork River flowing through the area.
In Stanton Ward Daniel Boone National Forest, the Red River Gorge, a canyon created by erosion of the Red River is located.
One of the most famous natural monuments in the Daniel Boone National Forest is the National Arch, a body set up by natural erosion 20m high and 23m wide rock formation that rises in Somerset County on a wooded area in sheet form.
Also worth seeing are the bordering the National Forest Cumberland Falls State Park in the same name.
Threats to the forest
Economic use
In contrast to the national parks, the economic use of the National Forests is generally permitted, and is also partly funded by the state. Although originally built with the aim to preserve nature, so there is always the risk of destroying large areas, because currently almost 90 % of the Daniel Boone National Forest are designated as potential areas for use by the timber industry.
Pests
How many forests in the southern United States, and the Daniel Boone National Forest by the southern pine beetle ( Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann) is threatened. This beetle greatly increased in recent years and came over large forest areas.