Many of our residents are concerned about the disappearing natural areas in Kenton county. They have gotten the message: natural and restored areas, native plants and animals matter to our quality of life.  In 2014, 51% of the county was covered in tree canopy.   That’s good when compared to other suburban communities, but as more subdivisions are being built, that number drops.

Residents are also hearing about Master Naturalist programs offered by other states, especially our neighbors, Ohio and Indiana, and I’ve gotten requests to offer something similar. UK had something in the pilot stages, but it’s wasn’t ready for a state-wide rollout. Concurrently, our new Extension branch office was designed, and the site was developed to keep land in as natural a state as possible. That included preservation of many old, large trees, with a plan to conduct environmentally-related programs there.   So I and the ag agent decided to offer our own version of Master Naturalist right away, along with the opening of our new building, and gear it to the needs of our county.  We called it the Urban Naturalist and ran it this past fall.   

Our first group consisted of 10 students.  The course ran one day a week for 9 weeks. Topics included waterways, biology, geology and paleontology, weather, etc. We developed a curriculum similar to the Master Naturalist and will be able to convert to the statewide designation when it is official, should we wish.   Teachers included Extension educators, a professors from another university, Kentucky Department of Forestry, staff of our three partner agencies, and local subject-matter experts. Learning materials came from Extension, the Department of Forestry, the Farm Bureau, our MS4 and other great sources.

The goal of the course was threefold: to educate our residents and landowners about our natural areas; to increase the breadth and depth of Extension environmental programs in the community; to create new partnerships with other like-minded county agencies; and to recruit a volunteer corps, from which we develop new county leaders, advisors and teachers, and they will help us as well as our partner organizations—the Soil & Water Conservation District, the county Conservancy, and county Parks & Recreation.

The class was a success.  Evaluations from students included comments such as, “I was blown away by some of the things I learned—especially that gray foxes can climb trees!”; “The presenters…were experts in the fields and passionate…a joy to learn from”; “I enjoyed all the topics-wouldn’t take anything out.”  The first meeting of the new environmental advisory council was held this week.  Six persons attended, and they are enthusiastic about getting to work on several projects. The first goal is to develop a trail through the woods with educational stations along the way.  We have many more ideas, have applied for the first grant, and are shooting for the stars.   Watch for more middle- and-long-range outcomes next year.