Kentucky Private Land Habitat Management

Kentucky Private Land Habitat Management KDFWR provides information on how to manage the habitat on your property to meet your wildlife goals.

This page is managed by KY Department of Fish and Wildlife's Private Lands Management Program. The programs goal is to provide technical guidance on habitat management to landowners across the Commonwealth. To learn more about the program please follow this page and visit https://fw.ky.gov/Wildlife/Pages/Improve-Your-Land-for-Wildlife.aspx. To learn more about the Department’s mission and programs, please visit https://fw.ky.gov/Pages/default.aspx.

It’s finally that time where readied leaves fall while most of the tree still appears green. Mostly green, but some brow...
08/31/2026

It’s finally that time where readied leaves fall while most of the tree still appears green. Mostly green, but some brown, acorns and hickory nuts are dropping. Leaves are beginning to wilt and turn their autumn colors. It is a great time to work on tree ID.

Many strong characteristics of tree species will show in autumn. The fruit of hard-mast species should be showing. You can start watching how acorns will change. Acorn shape, size, and coloration can help you distinguish between oaks species. For example, pin oak acorns are small, dark with pin stripes. Leaves are still holding their shape while some are wilting. Sometimes color can help indicate species. Sassafras trees are easy to ID because of the multi-shaped leaves, but sometimes one of those shapes can hold across the entire tree. Knowing sassafras turns a prominent red may help with identifying. Color may help you indicate between tree families. Hickories are mostly a bright – bronze, yellow. Many invasive bushes and vines are considered semi-evergreen, so their leaves will stay green through winter. Of course, always look for other characteristics as well. Observing other small traits like smells, leaf scar shapes, lenticels, buds, piths, armor, and bark will allow you to be confident in your species identification. A dichotomous key can guide you through traits of a tree to nail down the species!

ALERT: Beware the Megs!No, we’re not referencing 60-foot great white sharks patrolling state waterways; however, residen...
08/30/2026

ALERT: Beware the Megs!
No, we’re not referencing 60-foot great white sharks patrolling state waterways; however, residents should be vigilant and proceed with caution. The “Megs” being referenced start as small, fuzzy-white critters inhabiting local forests and back yards.
Megalopyge opercularis or the southern flannel moth, is a common Kentucky resident and packs one of the most venomous stings in North America.
Caterpillar
• Appearance: Teardrop-shaped and covered in long, silky, hair-like setae that resemble tiny tufts of cotton, a fuzzy slug, or a piece of animal fur. Colors range from gray and yellow to reddish-brown.
• The Danger: Hidden beneath the soft "fur" are short, rigid, hollow spines connected to poison glands. If touched, the spines break off in the skin and inject venom.
• Symptoms of a Sting: Contact causes immediate, intense burning pain that can rapidly radiate across the body. Other symptoms include red, grid-like rashes, swelling, blisters, headaches, nausea, and sometimes chest pain or vomiting.
• Diet & Habitat: They eat the leaves of various deciduous trees and shrubs, including oak, elm, redbud, maples and various fruit trees. They are found across the southern and eastern United States.
Adult Moth
• Appearance: Adult Flannel Moths are stout, furry, and completely harmless (they possess no venomous sting). They have a wingspan of 1 to 1.5 inches with wavy, fluffy hair colored in gradients of orange, yellow, rust-red, and cream, along with fuzzy black-tipped "boots" on their legs.
• Behavior: Adults are short-lived and do not feed; their only goal is to find a mate and lay eggs for the next generation before dying within a week.

Interested in learning more about prescribed fire?The Kentucky Prescribed Fire Council will be hosting an 8-hour Crewmem...
08/28/2026

Interested in learning more about prescribed fire?
The Kentucky Prescribed Fire Council will be hosting an 8-hour Crewmember Workshop on October 9th at Derrickson Agricultural Complex in Morehead.
This classroom-based course is designed to give landowners, contractors, natural resource professionals, and anyone else interested in prescribed fire a strong foundation in how to safely and effectively plan and implement a controlled burn. Topics include fire behavior, weather, fuels, burn planning, equipment, safety, and more.
If you or someone you know is interested in attending, register by scanning the QR code on the flyer below. Registration typically fills up quickly, so don't wait to sign up!
Can't make this one? No worries. The Kentucky Prescribed Fire Council typically hosts several Crewmember Workshops each spring and fall, so keep an eye out for future opportunities!
We hope to see you there!

Native doesn’t automatically mean quality habitat.At first glance, this field of big bluestem looks like a wildlife-mana...
08/25/2026

Native doesn’t automatically mean quality habitat.

At first glance, this field of big bluestem looks like a wildlife-management success. But it has become a dense near-monoculture, limiting the habitat benefits it can provide.

Big bluestem isn’t the problem... the lack of diversity is.

Quality early successional habitat should be a patchy mix of native grasses, forbs, legumes, bare ground, and vegetation of different heights and densities. Grasses provide structure and cover, while forbs provide flowers, seeds, and insects that benefit songbirds, game birds, and small mammals.

Sometimes the best management means setting back even our native plants. Prescribed fire, disking, selective herbicide, or other targeted disturbances can open dense stands and allow more diversity to respond.

Native is a great starting point, but habitat quality comes from diversity.

When livestock has unrestricted access to creeks, the damage can go far beyond a muddy creekbank. Creating pathways down...
08/24/2026

When livestock has unrestricted access to creeks, the damage can go far beyond a muddy creekbank. Creating pathways down creek banks increases erosion, adds sediment and nutrients to the water, and destroys vegetation that provides important habitat and shade.

Fencing livestock out of creeks and establishing Riparian Buffers, which includes strips of trees, shrubs, and grasses along the water can make a tremendous difference. Healthy riparian areas will accomplish the following:

• Stabilize creek banks and reduce erosion
• Filter sediment, nutrients, and runoff before they reach the water
• Keep streams cooler and healthier
• Provide food, cover, and habitat for fish, insects, amphibians, birds and other wildlife
• Protect water quality for communities and ecosystems downstream

Keeping livestock out of the water doesn’t just protect the creek—it protects everything connected to it. A healthy stream begins at its banks, and what we do upstream affects life all the way downstream.

If you have waterways through your property reach out to your local Private Lands Biologist to create a plan to protect those water sources while enhancing the diversity of plant and wildlife species.

Herbicides – As managers we have lots of tools in the “toolbox” for conducting habitat management. One useful tool that ...
08/23/2026

Herbicides –

As managers we have lots of tools in the “toolbox” for conducting habitat management. One useful tool that many mangers use are herbicides these products can greatly increase efficiency and effectiveness of habitat work. However, herbicides are complex and there are lots of different herbicides that do different things. Taking time to explore herbicides before using them as well as reading the label of a particular herbicide you plan to use is important. The label is the law regarding the use of a particular herbicide, so it is important that land managers read them! These can be confusing or even intimidating so feel free to reach out to your biologist who can help you better understand herbicides and how to use them.

08/17/2026

Noticing more hummingbirds around your feeder recently? They are beginning to embark on their migration across the country moving south for warmer winter weather!

While hummingbird feeders are important, nothing beats the real thing and that is native flowers. Flowers that are currently blooming that help fuel hummingbirds are cardinal flower, red columbine, trumpet vine and blazing star. These flowers all have something in common; they have a colorful, bright, tubular bloom which holds nectar. That nectar is essential for hummingbirds as it is their primary food source. To get the most out of your planting try to add flowers that bloom through different periods of the year to always keep something in bloom for our pollinators!

Pictured is an ongoing field conversion by a landowner in Pulaski County. The conversion is from cool season sod grasses...
08/15/2026

Pictured is an ongoing field conversion by a landowner in Pulaski County. The conversion is from cool season sod grasses to native warm season grasses. This landowner made the decision to diversify his operation and take full advantage of growing seasons. Establishment of native warm season grasses will give him a more resistant and productive warm season source for his livestock while also benefiting wildlife species such as meadowlark, cottontail rabbits, white tailed deer, wild turkey, and bobwhite quail.
Herbicide was applied last fall and this past spring on this field killing competing vegetation within the field. Then it was burned as further site prep in April. Grasses were then drilled in at the beginning of June coupled with application of Plateau (Imazapic) herbicide . Now in August many of those drilled grasses are coming on.
His neighbors have been commenting on a failed planting here, but this is developing just as it should. Warm season grasses are slower to establish due to the extensive root systems they develop first. Patience is key with these grasses, but the work will pay off in the long run for both his operation and wildlife. Once these grasses start taking off next year then leap year three this field will likely triple the summer biomass produced as leaving it in fescue.

Have you taken the crewmember course through the Kentucky Prescribed Fire Council and are interested in conducting some ...
08/12/2026

Have you taken the crewmember course through the Kentucky Prescribed Fire Council and are interested in conducting some prescribed fire on your property? Planning is the number one factor that will determine the success of a burn. Making quality maps that you and your crew can easily decipher is part of this process. This example map was created very quickly in Google Earth. It is very basic but has the major components that crewmembers will need to be able to quickly reference such as water access, contingency line (gray line), primary firebreak (thick white line), and lettered reference points. Maps can be more complex based on your particular property and burn plan but remember to keep them relatively simple without compromising key information such as those listed above. If you are tech-savvy and want to delve deeper into map-making, there are free computer programs out there such as QGIS that will allow you to utilize map layers that are not as easily accessible on other programs which includes Google Earth.

The critter-chorus is one of the most distinct and nostalgic aspects of living in the south, and few of the members are ...
08/10/2026

The critter-chorus is one of the most distinct and nostalgic aspects of living in the south, and few of the members are more distinct in sight and sound than the cicada. Cicadas are medium to large bugs with stocky bodies, prominent eyes, and two pairs of transparent wings. Only they males create the distinct cicada sound through vibrating a membrane in their abdomen. While they sing (scream) for multiple reasons, the largest is to attract mates – which makes sense, considering they only have a few shorts weeks above ground in which they mate, lay eggs, then die. All species of cicadas spend most of their life underground, but the frequency with which they emerge is based on species. Most cicada species are annual, and some members of their population appear each year while some stay below ground. Other species are periodical, and these populations will all emerge together after spending many years underground.

While cicadas can often be viewed as a nuisance to humans, they are an incredibly desirable and nutritious food source to animals, and a strong correlation has been shown to exist between cicada hatches and turkey populations. If you’re already on team cicada, then one of the best things you can do is to help create healthy soil by leaving all or some of your leaves in the fall and avoiding harsh lawn chemicals.

If you would like to talk more about cicadas or any other wildlife, reach out to your local Private Lands Biologist
https://fw.ky.gov/More/Documents/privatelands_biologists.pdf

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1 Sportsman's Lane
Frankfort, KY
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