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Romantic Valentine evenings await on February 13 and 14 at Jefferson Memorial Forest. For only $35, couples will be treated to a romantic candle-lit hike that ends with a view of Louisville’s lights from the scenic Manor House, where couples will enjoy hot beverages, rich hors d’ouvres and desserts, and the cozy warmth of a hearth.
“The natural beauty of Jefferson Memorial Forest is a great fit with Valentine’s Day,” said Rebecca Minnick, Program Manager at Jefferson Memorial Forest. “Couples can have a romantic evening by taking a stroll through the woods, then relaxing in front of the fire. We have many couples who have made this part of their Valentine tradition.”
Jefferson Memorial Forest is located near Fairdale, just 15 minutes from downtown Louisville. The evening begins at 7:00 p.m. and is expected to wind up by 10 p.m. The hike is on flat terrain, but closed-toe shoes with tread are recommended. Couples are also invited to bring flashlights to the hike for added visibility along the trails. Hikes meet in the Horine Reservation main parking lot at 12304 Holsclaw Hill Road, Fairdale KY.
To Register
Reservations must be made by Tuesday, February 7th. Call (502) 368-5404 or email the Forest at forest@louisvilleky.gov. In case of inclement weather, those registered should call the 368-5404 number for cancellation information.
It’s often said these are the good old days for deer hunting in Kentucky, but for those of a certain age, or new to hunting, it’s all they have ever known.
The world was tip-toeing into a new millennium the last time Kentucky’s deer harvest did not break 100,000 for a season. The 2016-17 season cleared that mark and surpassed 130,000 for the fifth consecutive season.
Hunters combined to take more than 139,000 deer before the book closed Jan. 16 on one of the three best seasons on record in Kentucky. The only seasons with higher harvest totals were the 2013-14 and 2015-16 seasons.
“We’ve been harvesting a lot of deer and that’s a reflection of how many deer we have on the landscape,” said Gabe Jenkins, big game program coordinator with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “The good thing is our quality is still up. I’ve talked to a lot of folks who saw a lot of nice deer harvested this season.”
The 2015-16 season produced new records at nearly every turn, including the overall harvest record. Archery hunters kept the trend going this past September by starting the 2016-17 season with a record opening weekend.
A slowdown ensued as unseasonably warm temperatures set in. High winds, an ample acorn crop and a full moon added to the challenge for early muzzleloader season in mid-October and the two-day take was down sharply from the previous year.
Cooler temperatures arrived for modern gun season in November and coincided with the peak of breeding activity across the state.
Hunters responded by checking 41,796 deer the first weekend of modern gun season and 102,848 for the modern gun season overall. Both figures were the second highest on record behind the 2015-16 season.
“I think the warm weather possibly shifted some early season hunters to later,” Jenkins said. “I’ll have to look at that when I start digging into the numbers. I would venture to say that a lot of folks who normally take deer in September and October didn’t and waited until November.”
For the first time in 18 seasons, Owen County did not lead the state in the number of deer taken. Pendleton County finished ahead of it.
Harvest totals in the northern Kentucky county have been on the upswing for several seasons, and the recent results bring added attention to the fact. Hunters there reported taking more than 3,200 deer this past season. Owen, Crittenden, Graves and Christian counties completed the top-five.
Hunters took more than 5,500 deer on public lands across the state, according to telecheck harvest results. Two areas of interest entering this past season were Big Rivers WMA and State Forest in Crittenden and Union counties and the new Rolling Fork WMA in Nelson and LaRue counties.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife debuted a first-of-its-kind quota hunt for archery and crossbow deer hunting this past season at Big Rivers, which expanded in 2016 with the addition of the 841-acre Jenkins-Rich tract in Crittenden County.
“It was a pretty big move for us,” Jenkins said. “When we looked at this one, it wasn’t people shooting five or six deer. It was one person coming and shooting one deer, and it was a lot of people doing that. So it was strictly a numbers game.”
The action achieved the intended result: the deer harvest on Big Rivers was reduced by 38 percent this season.
Rolling Fork WMA came online this past September and allows modern gun hunting for deer. Of the 27 deer taken with a modern gun on the area, 19 were bagged on the more rugged LaRue County side of the property. A total of 32 deer – 15 male, 17 female – were taken on the WMA across all seasons.
Hunters reporting their harvest to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife through the telecheck process this past season were asked for additional information if they were checking male deer with or without antlers. Their answers will help biologists.
“We will be able to get a better feel for age-at-harvest more than we ever have,” Jenkins said. “It will allow us to analyze how we’ve been estimating in the past through our collections in the field compared to what our hunters are reporting. It will be beneficial to make those comparisons.”
Hunters who took a trophy deer this past season are encouraged to submit the necessary information for recognition in the trophy deer list that will appear in the next Kentucky Hunting and Trapping Guide. The deadline for submissions is May 1.
To be eligible, a hunter must have taken a white-tailed deer in Kentucky this past season that net scored 160 or higher typical or net scored 185 or higher non-typical going by the Boone and Crockett scoring system. The completed and signed score sheet along with a photo should be sent to Kentucky Hunting and Trapping Guide, #1 Sportsman’s Lane, Frankfort, KY 40601. Include the county in which the deer was taken and the equipment used to harvest the deer. Emailed submissions to info.center@ky.gov also are accepted.
Plans were filed last week for a $5 million redevelopment of Colonial Gardens in south Louisville.
The adaptive reuse project includes renovating the 7,000-quare-foot historic Colonial Gardens building, as well as adding two new, one-story buildings that will share a common patio and garden area.
Citizens sought successfully to designate the iconic Colonial Gardens building, located across from Iroquois Park, as a local landmark in 2008. The city purchased the property in 2013 to help foster its commercial redevelopment.
The site’s developer, Underhill Associates, is in talks with local restaurant groups to occupy the space on the corner of Kenwood Avenue and New Cut Road.
“Redevelopment will establish Colonial Gardens as a key anchor to south Louisville and Iroquois Park once again,” said Mayor Greg Fischer. “I applaud our south Louisville Metro Council members and Underhill Associates for their commitment to making this project a success.”
Construction is expected to begin on the property in mid- to late spring 2017.
To view renderings of the project provided by Architectural Artisans, visit http://portal.louisvilleky.gov/codesandregs/permit/detail?type=URBAN&id=17COA1007
Metro Council comments:
Metro Council President David Yates, District 25: “Too long has this historic site sat vacant. I look forward to the day when the people of south Louisville can again take pride in Colonial Gardens and the economic impact it will bring to our community.”
Councilwoman Marianne Butler, District 15: “The development of the Colonial Gardens corner not only improves the quality for life for residents, it also enhances your experience when you attend a show and/or movie at the amphitheater, and will spur development all along the corridor. I applaud and thank the Underhills for investing in south Louisville!”
Councilman Dan Johnson, District 21: “The restoration and reopening of Colonial Gardens is a top priority of mine, and I look forward to continuing my work with the administration to ensure this project is successful. When it opens, Colonial Gardens will not only restore a historic piece of the neighborhood, it could be the economic spark I have long advocated for in this area.”
Councilwoman Vicki Aubrey Welch, District 13: “It is so exciting that we are finally moving forward at this historical site, bringing long-awaited restaurants and jobs adjacent to Iroquois Park. My hope is that this will also spur other economic development along the New Cut/Taylor Boulevard Corridor.”
Councilman Rick Blackwell, District 12: “The combination of the re-vamped Colonial Gardens across from one of the city’s greatest concert venues, Iroquois Amphitheater, will be a win for south Louisville. This is another example of the positive momentum we have in the south and southwest, and we are excited to welcome people from all across Metro Louisville to see what we have to offer.”
The Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission took another step toward its goal of increasing Kentucky’s elk population at a faster rate by proposing hunting season modifications and setting season dates at its Jan. 6 special-called meeting.
The commission recommends all hunting, fishing and boating regulations for approval by the General Assembly and approves all expenditures by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. All recommendations must be approved by legislators before they become law.
Kentucky’s free-ranging elk population is the nation’s largest east of the Rocky Mountains, but the commission is taking strides to grow it faster as a way to create more recreational opportunity.
The commission moved to compress the state’s hunting season by ending the season December 31. In doing so, it proposed moving Cow Firearms Hunt 2 (second week) from January to December immediately after Cow Firearms Hunt 1.
The commission also proposed the 2017 elk season dates:
Bull Archery:
Sept. 16 – 29; Oct. 14 – Dec. 8; Dec. 23 – 31
Bull Crossbow:
Sept. 23 – 29; Oct. 14 – Dec. 8; Dec. 23 – 31
Bull Firearms 1:
Sept. 30 – Oct. 6
Bull Firearms 2:
Oct. 7 – 13
Cow Archery and Crossbow:
Oct. 14 – Dec. 8; Dec. 23 – 31
Cow Firearms 1:
Dec. 9 – 15
Cow Firearms 2:
Dec. 16 – 22
The next regular Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting will be 8:30 a.m. (Eastern time), Friday, March 17, 2017. Meetings are held at Kentucky Fish and Wildlife headquarters, located at 1 Sportsman’s Lane off U.S. 60 in Frankfort.
The end of the year is a time for reflecting on the past 12 months and envisioning the possibilities for the new year.
Officials with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources recently previewed what’s ahead in 2017.
From firming up long-range plans for the restoration of ruffed grouse in Kentucky and management of the state’s black bear population to expanding the popular Fishing in Neighborhoods (FINs) program and releasing thousands of rare mussels into the wild, a common theme stretches across the Fisheries and Wildlife divisions. Conserving fish and wildlife habitats and populations and expanding opportunities for hunters, anglers and others are top priorities.
In Fisheries, Asian carp will continue to be a major focus. Commercial harvest is an effective tool for large-scale removal of the invasive fish and Fisheries director Ron Brooks said a multi-year effort to help the Asian carp processing industry expand in Kentucky is expected to bear fruit in 2017.
“We’ve been working on this for about two years and it’s finally coming around,” he said.
The department has been working with fish processors, commercial fishermen, legislators, government agencies and businesses to find ways to make a greater dent in the Asian carp population.
The proposed system would train new commercial fishermen how to harvest Asian carp and assist commercial fishermen already harvesting Asian carp while reducing costs and delays for processors, Brooks said.
“We’re reaching out to help the Asian carp-harvesting industry meet its needs and hopefully lead into expansion of their businesses, all to get rid of Asian carp,” he said. “We’re focusing a lot of our efforts on Kentucky and Barkley lakes because we believe we can have an immediate impact there. We’re trying to ensure our sportfish species aren’t taken out.”
Elsewhere in Fisheries, a long-term project to increase forage and improve fishing opportunity at Cave Run Lake will wrap up in 2017. The project focused on the Ramey’s Creek and Warix coves in 2016. Department personnel added around 1,000 trees, 500 pallet structures, 150 bucket stake attractors, 10 wooden cable spools and 50 plastic pipe trees. A map showing the locations of these fish attractors is available online at fw.ky.gov. Type “Cave Run Lake Fish Habitat Improvement Project” into the search box on the homepage.
The popular Fishing in Neighborhoods (FINs) program is adding five new lakes to its lineup: Flemingsburg Old Reservoir in Fleming County, Kess Creek Park Lake in Graves County, Leary Lake in Grant County, Logan Hubble Park Lake in Lincoln County and Rotary Park Lake in Hickman County. The addition of these lakes brings the number of FINs lakes to 43 across the state.
Anglers can start planning now where they want to fish and for what species in with the new Fishing Forecast for Kentucky’s major fisheries. The 2017 edition is available on the department’s website by clicking on the “Fish” tab and choosing “Forecast” from the dropdown menu. The annual compilation highlights new, expanding and improving fisheries across the state.
Deer hunters in Kentucky have enjoyed another successful season in 2016.
“We’re going to end up in the top 5 in terms of our overall harvest total,” said Steve Beam, Wildlife Division director for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “We’re producing tremendous numbers of trophy quality bucks. At the same time, our herd is healthy. Things continue to be wonderful.”
At its December meeting, the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to expand opportunities for youth and muzzleloader deer hunters on several wildlife management areas in 2017. The 2017-18 Kentucky Hunting and Trapping Guide, due out in July, will note these and any other pertinent changes.
John Hast was a biologist in the department’s deer and elk program before taking over as coordinator of its bear program in January 2015. He anticipates having a draft of a long-range management plan for Kentucky’s black bear population ready in 2017.
“We’ve been doing in-house research since bears returned to the state,” Hast said. “We just completed the project that’s going to provide our foundation for management for the next 15 years.
“A management plan, to me, gives me an opportunity to summarize all of that data and put it in one spot and distill it out and translate it. The plan will set forth what we’ve got but also what we’re going to be doing in the near future to refine things.”
Also in 2017, expect to hear more from the department about wild pigs in Kentucky, Beam said.
“We have re-evaluated and are in the process of increasing our efforts on wild pig eradication, working with landowners and cooperating with our partners,” he said.
In the department’s Wildlife Diversity program, led by coordinator Sunni Carr, biologists plan to conduct a statewide survey of osprey nesting locations and also start a loggerhead shrike banding project in the hopes of learning more about the migration and causes of decline for the species.
Additionally, the statewide survey for eastern whip-poor-wills and chuck-will’s-widows will be expanded to examine trends for Kentucky’s night birds. The department’s Center for Mollusk Conservation (CMC) plans to release endangered pink muckets in Kentucky for the 10th year. There are now several thousand of these mussels at more than 23 locations.
The department’s website provides a wealth of information about the work being done by each of these divisions. While there, consider purchasing a 2017-18 hunting and fishing license. The new license year starts March 1.
In 2017 Kentucky celebrates the 225th Anniversary of becoming a state and the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea honors that history with the exhibit 225: Artists Celebrate Kentucky’s History.
This new exhibit will be March 25-Sept. 23, 2017, in the center’s main gallery and will feature both two and three dimensional works that record, capture, embrace and celebrate a facet or subject from Kentucky’s 225 year history.
With a long and rich history behind it, Kentucky offers artists a multitude of historical subjects, ideas, traditions and connections. Original works by Kentucky artists that use this history as a subject, focal or starting point will be considered for this exhibit. Kentucky history should be an integral part of each creation as conveyed by choice of subject or it may connect style wise to a historic Kentucky creative tradition such as the Shakers. Works submitted can be functional or non-functional with no dimension exceeding 4 feet.
As part of this exhibit, artists will be asked to write about the particular Kentucky history that inspired their work and give some background and insight into their creative processes.
Each year the Kentucky Artisan Center develops and presents several special exhibits to showcase works by Kentucky artisans. These exhibits focus on a specific medium, theme, technique, or subject and often include artists and works not regularly on display at the center.
Information about the exhibit and an entry form are available by contacting the Center. You can also request an entry form and prospectus by mail from the: Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea, Attn: “225”, 200 Artisan Way, Berea, KY 40403 or by calling 859-985-5448. The deadline for entry is March 1, 2017.
The center features works by more than 700 artisans from more than 100 counties across the Commonwealth. Special exhibits currently on display include, “Have a Seat: Chairs by Kentucky Artisans,” through March 18, 2017, and in the lobby, on display Jan. 7- April 30, “Reveal: Don Ament and Joyce Garner.” For more information about events call 859-985-5448, go to the center’s website or visit us on Facebook.
The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea is located at 200 Artisan Way, just off Interstate 75 at Berea Exit 77. The center’s exhibits, shopping and travel information areas are open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the cafe is open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is free.
The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea is an agency in the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
For thousands of local children – and quite a few adults, too – sledding is a highlight of the winter season. Metro Parks wants to remind the public it will open hills in seven parks for sledding from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on days when snow accumulation reaches 2-3 inches.
Metro Parks has selected its best and safest sledding hills in the area. As long as the sledding hills maintain adequate snow coverage, they will remain open. Park users are asked to avoid sledding when hills are closed. Sledding on slopes that lack appropriate snow depth will cause turf damage that must be repaired in the spring.
The rule of thumb for determining if enough snow accumulation has occurred is that if you see blades of grass poking through the snow cover; it’s not deep enough to sled safely. Sledding when parks employees have not posted the “open” sign, and at all other times, comes at your own risk.
DESIGNATED SLEDDING HILLS:
- Cherokee Park (Baringer Hill, intersection of Alexander Road and Scenic Loop)
- George Rogers Clark Park (1024 Thruston Avenue, behind playground, near McKinley Avenue)
- Joe Creason Park (1297 Trevilian Way, behind Metro Parks administration building)
- McNeely Lake Park (6900 Cooper Chapel Road, near Korean War Memorial)
- Tyler Park (1501 Castlewood Avenue, on Tyler Park Drive side of park)
- Charlie Vettiner Park (5550 Charlie Vettiner Park Road, near Easum Road entrance)
- Iroquois Golf Course (1501 Rundill Road)
SLEDDING RULES:
- Sledding is permitted on designated sledding hills when the “Sledding Hill Open” sign is displayed.
- Sledding hills will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. as long as there is adequate snow to protect slopes; all sledding hills will close at 11 p.m.
- Park vehicles only in regular parking areas to protect your car from damage.
- No vehicles are permitted off the pavement in any park.
- No alcoholic beverages are permitted at any time.
- Those who use the designated sledding hills are doing so at their own risk. Bonfires will not be permitted at Metro Parks’ sites, and sledders are urged to carry a cell phone in the event of an emergency.
SLEDDING SAFETY TIPS:
- Only use devices designed for sledding.
- Wear appropriate clothing – loose ends or flaps can easily get caught.
- Sleds should contain a number of riders appropriate for the designated device during each descent.
- Dress in layers, so you can remove one layer without risking frostbite. Several thin layers are warmer than one bulky layer.
- Make sure you’re with someone who knows your name and can contact family in an emergency; parents should remain with their children.
- Don’t drink alcohol before sledding – it impairs your ability to use good judgment and causes the body to lose heat more rapidly.
- Check your path for trees and other objects before starting your descent.
- Don’t sled head-first or standing up. Good visibility is necessary during your descent. Don’t face backwards, and make sure your vision isn’t obscured by hats and scarves.
- When climbing the hill, stay to the sides. Don’t climb in the sledding path. It’s important to remember that slopes can become very crowded during peak times.