In September, I told you about a new book being released by the Kentucky State Nature Preserve Commission and the University Press of Kentucky: Kentucky’s Natural Heritage: An Illustrated Guide to Biodiversity. Complete with a foreword by Kentucky legend Wendell Berry.
SEE? EVEN THE COVER IS BREATHTAKING
Let me tell you: OH MY GOSH. This book. You must go buy it. Best $40 you’ll spend. Especially if Kentucky’s in your blood. 250 photos, maps and charts. Enough to settle me for weeks. I can’t stop looking at it. Makes me never want to leave Kentucky for any reason.
It’s good for you. Good for your kids. Perfect as a gift for history buffs and nature aficionados. It now graces my coffee table.
Since I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t giving something away, that’s what I’m going to do now. I’ve got ten copies and they’re all yours. Half are courtesy University Press. Since I enjoy this particular book so much, I’m doubling the give-away by adding five copies I snagged myself. Hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I do.
Here’s what to do: leave a comment on this post (using your a real email address where I can contact you if you win – it’s not public and won’t be maintained by me) telling us what you love about Kentucky’s natural environment.
We’ll draw ten winners out of a hat Sunday night and I’ll contact everyone by email.
If you can’t win but still want a copy of the book? Get it directly from University Press, from Amazon or from your local bookstore.
47 responses so far ↓
1 Jeremy Sissle // Oct 21, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Pick me, please.
2 James R. // Oct 21, 2010 at 2:24 pm
The beauty of Pine Mountain in Letcher County is the best bar none. Have you ever been to Bad Branch Falls and seen the 60 foot waterfall in the rugged hollow that has never been logged or walked along the ridge by Kingdome Come?
3 JBailey // Oct 21, 2010 at 2:27 pm
I love the early morning beauty of the eastern Kentucky landscape as the sun is just beginning to rise and fog is still settled on the foothills of Appalachia.
4 Meredith // Oct 21, 2010 at 2:38 pm
Nothing beats the beautiful mountains of Eastern Kentucky in the fall.
5 Shanna // Oct 21, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Autumnal tints in rural Kentucky.
6 Strangeite // Oct 21, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Over here!! Over here!!!
You with the books!!! Over here!!!
Do I need to lift my shirt for you to throw a book my way?
7 PDeLaney // Oct 21, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Kentucky has such a diversity of landscape and environment that short of driving to every county, this book sounds like the best way to see it all. With gas running $2.79/gallon, I’ll take the book. Pleeeeeease.
8 Monica // Oct 21, 2010 at 3:03 pm
Kentucky’s waterways are beyond compare. We have zillions of miles of shoreline in Kentucky and each river–and creek–or lake–and pond–(yep, luv me the man-made stuff as well) has its own unique personality and offering to the beholder. And the change of seasons just makes these sights that much more spectacular along the way. (Please pick me. Puh-leeze.)
9 FactFace // Oct 21, 2010 at 3:28 pm
No matter where I go I do not think any place compares with the beautiful state of Kentucky. We have such beautiful mountains, lakes and some of the most beautiful homes in the country. I take great pride in Kentucky and its splendid land.
This book would definitely add to my coffee table, too.
10 Monty // Oct 21, 2010 at 3:37 pm
The water seems endless in Kentucky, but we have everything we need for recreation within our borders. Nature is good to us here. From Red River Gorge to LBL to the Ohio River, it seems like you could never really run out of things to experience. In one day, I managed to see swamps in Western Kentucky, Grasslands at LBL, and some of the most beautiful mountains in the world. Can’t beat that with a stick!
11 TallGuy // Oct 21, 2010 at 3:57 pm
I drive to all 4 ends of our state for a living and never ceases to amaze me how much natural resource we have here; No need to vacation to another state; We have almost every scenic attraction, event or vacation treat to enjoy, right here.
12 Michael // Oct 21, 2010 at 4:25 pm
As a photographer who shoots “Kentucky” often, I’m not sure you can put “Kentucky” in words.
It’s a feeling. Maybe something more than that.
Of a sense of place. Of belonging. Of the extra-ordinary.
Of everything is right and something is terribly wrong. Of the contemporary and dated. Urban and decidedly not urban. Corrupt and pure.
Wholly its own come to mind.
It is, however, breathtaking. With the power to silence your mind. To pull you wholly into a moment that needs nothing else to complete.
Just seeing is enough.
Kentucky is beautiful. Morning sunlight on bluegrass dew. Heavy fog on the Ohio. Steam on hot-walked horses. City lights at night . The Cumberland Falls. The Appalachians.
It is beauty both old and new.
13 tbrauch // Oct 21, 2010 at 4:38 pm
Why all the to-do about a book with some mountains? Nobody’s gonna notice a few mountains missing. At least that’s what someone told me.
14 EKYIAN // Oct 21, 2010 at 5:00 pm
i love KY’s hills because they are a part of me, just like my ancestors and family are a part of me. they provide comfort when im down, they welcome me home when ive been away for too long, they provide me shelter when im there, and they provide me beauty whenever and wherever i look.
15 frank // Oct 21, 2010 at 9:36 pm
One of the beauties of Kentucky is that the place is still so wild. Even here, within 20 miles of Bluegrass Airport, I can walk out into a field and be lost from civilization.
Just this week, I counted five different species of hawks within a mile. They were not competing with each other but each was working a niche in the splendid environment we share.
Our nature is wild and full of wonders.
16 jake // Oct 21, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Wow – 15 comments and 91 emails already. I’m impressed!
I hope everyone who isn’t able to win goes out to buy a copy. It’s terrific.
17 Jennifer // Oct 21, 2010 at 9:56 pm
I am a big fan of Wendell Berry and a proud Kentuckian. Thank for sharing this new gem.
18 Ed // Oct 21, 2010 at 10:21 pm
I have launched a canoe on Harrods creek in Louisville and within a half hours easy paddling have seen deer, beavers, muskrats and great blue herons. It always amazes me how the buzz of the city vanishes and Kentucky’s eternal wild life takes over.
19 Larry West // Oct 21, 2010 at 10:23 pm
What do I love about Kentucky’s natural environment? I especially love the changes of the leaves in the fall.
I would recommend everyone go to the restaurant at Pine Mountain State Resort Park. The food is terrible (they got a “C” rating from the health department, and the milk at breakfast was too warm), but the views are breathtaking.
Also recommended are the cottages at Audubon State Park — right on the lake!
(I’ll be very surprised if I even make it into your hat, but agree with you that the Commonwealth of Kentucky is a great place to live and vacation.)
20 Lisa Graas // Oct 21, 2010 at 10:28 pm
You don’t have to give me one, but I just want to say that back when we had the funds to do so, I took the kids all over from New York City to New Orleans and Orlando….driving the whole way, because we love the scenery. God blessed us with being able to do that at a time when we were able to because we learned that though there is a lot of beauty out there to be seen, none of it compares to Kentucky. We have more natural running water in Kentucky than any other state in the continental U.S. Just that one fact in and of itself speaks of the value of our state. Now we can’t travel so much….but we don’t really mind because we already know we live in the most beautiful place we have ever seen. Frank, that’s so great that you saw so many hawks! We’ve seen a lot of hawks lately, too, and it is breathtaking to watch them. I also confess that I love to hear the coyotes at night, and I love the purple bachelor buttons that grow along the roadside (and in our yard). Our back lot got really grown up this summer because we just weren’t physically able to get back there and mow it, and we were glad we didn’t because we had so many different kinds of butterflies, and in great abundance, that we started calling it ‘the habitat’ instead of ‘the back lot’. We were able to get down to Cave City to ride horses once this summer and there were hundreds of butterflies around every other turn. Beautiful. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else in the world.
Thanks for loving Kentucky, Jake. I love it, too.
21 jake // Oct 21, 2010 at 10:31 pm
What Lisa said is on the money, really.
There’s a ton to experience right in our back yard.
22 Noah // Oct 21, 2010 at 11:10 pm
I love the fall colors and the radiant blue skies on a fall afternoon.
23 TallGuy // Oct 22, 2010 at 12:46 am
Jake,
Did not know this at first, but you have a pretty good gig going on here; Your pages are very interesting, addicting to some point, with the local good gossip and scoops, yet you come out with “good & positive” things, like this book. Keep up the great work; Am sure I’m not the only frequent reader who feels the same. Not an ending here but, a good balance from this site comes to mind.
24 Lisa Graas // Oct 22, 2010 at 2:39 am
“I take with me Kentucky embedded in my brain and heart,
“In my flesh and bone and blood
“Since I am Kentucky
“And Kentucky is part of me.”
– Kentucky Is My Land, Jesse Stuart
http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0310443/Kentucky%20is%20My%20Land.htm
The first time I read this was in my high school Humanities class.
25 Jenny // Oct 22, 2010 at 2:55 am
Give it to me, please! I am homeschooled and need to see the outside world!
26 bourbonball72 // Oct 22, 2010 at 6:42 am
The absolute prettiest place on earth.
27 Terie // Oct 22, 2010 at 7:26 am
Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall…the rolling hills and beautiful, pristine waterways in Southern Central Kentucky are my favorite place to be. I hope to live the Dale Hollow Lake area someday, I spend as much of my free time there as possible.
28 Chris // Oct 22, 2010 at 8:39 am
Kentucky is the best place on earth! Perhaps this book will inspire some people to stop mountaintop removal!
29 Rich // Oct 22, 2010 at 9:18 am
If I could only choose one place to live right now, it would be the bluegrass region of Kentucky.
RG
30 Matt // Oct 22, 2010 at 10:06 am
What makes KY’s natural beauty so special is that it is on a completely human scale. Our landscapes won’t kill you if you happen to get lost in them. You don’t need lots of fancy expensive equipment to enjoy them.
31 Joe // Oct 22, 2010 at 10:16 am
I love Kentucky’s waterways. I love the mountains in the east. I love the horse pastures in the middle. I love the bountiful farms in the west. It’s impossible to pick a favorite.
32 Katie // Oct 22, 2010 at 10:32 am
I just moved to KY a little over a year ago for a job after visiting only once.
Ever since, I have been so impressed by the geographical diversity and natural beauty of the state. I’m so happy life brought me to KY.
33 Linda // Oct 22, 2010 at 10:34 am
It’s beautiful and would make a great gift for my boss. It would be bad karma to keep it, right?
34 jim // Oct 22, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Perfect Christmas gift to mom!
35 Lisa Graas // Oct 22, 2010 at 1:57 pm
Maybe you should send a copy to a school library outside Kentucky. Sort of as an “ambassador” from Kentucky to some poor kid who wonders about other places.
36 William Stone // Oct 22, 2010 at 6:17 pm
I have to steal from my best friend, The Archfiend, and mention that Kentucky has more arches than any state except Utah. And ours are better.
37 Bob Treadway // Oct 22, 2010 at 8:42 pm
I grew up on the banks of the Kentucky River at Heidelberg, near Lock 14. I took my son to the Cathedral Domain every summer for camp, a few miles down the road. I’ve also hiked with him through the Red River Gorge, and camped with him at Camp McKee, the Boy Scout camp. The knobs and small mountains of these regions are spectacular, and are beautiful every season if the year.
And all of that was within a three county area. Imagine what the rest of the state is like!
38 Joey // Oct 23, 2010 at 8:29 am
Purchased a copy back in September when you first posted about this book.
Needless to say, it is a fantastic publication and, if you are able, should purchase a copy.
39 EdenSprings // Oct 23, 2010 at 10:59 am
I grew up on the west coast and was looking to move in 1998 when a friend who had already moved to Northern Kentucky insisted I come and visit. Kentucky? Really? She finally sent me a plane ticket and spent the next 4 days being my tour guide around the state.
It was central Kentucky that twanged my heartstrings. The rolling hills that seasonally transition from brilliant green to warm straw; the dry seed-heads that nod over a soft blanket of snow in winter; ancient dry stone walls once plum but now wandering in lovely haphazardness; streams the color of dark tea running full and deep; the distant sound of thunder warning you to take cover before the first fat drops begin to fall, kicking up dust as they hit the dry summer earth and fill the air with the scent of the rich, fertile earth; everywhere Nature’s emissaries reminding you that you’re Her guest: deer sharing a pasture with brood mares, the hurdy-gurdy of Cicadas, the love songs of tree frogs…it looked like heaven to me.
40 jay wethington // Oct 23, 2010 at 5:25 pm
from the Mississippi river and the lake areas to the mountains Kentucky has the most majestic variations in shade and hue.
41 Jeff // Oct 24, 2010 at 12:06 pm
I love hiking the hills in the springtime and looking for ladyslipper orchids.
42 Kathleen // Oct 24, 2010 at 4:34 pm
Whenever we drive away from home I look around and think about the season changing or how green, mellow, stark or expectant the landscape is. When you travel out of the state you notice the change. Westward the landscape dries out, southward it changes to endless flat boring commercial pines and eastward the landscape goes urban and suburban. Returning feels like home. Changing but giving the feeling of permanence.
43 Watson // Oct 24, 2010 at 5:14 pm
I love the karst topography of the central bluegrass. As a geography major I’ve learned to appreciate the natural formations caused by the limestone bedrock. Limestone has resulted in stunning cave systems, sinkholes, and the rolling hills of our state. It also aids in making our water taste delicious and bourbon as well.
44 Amanda // Oct 24, 2010 at 6:17 pm
I’m partial to the rolling hills of the bluegrass but always enjoy hiking in the mountains, canoeing the waterways or exploring the cave systems.
45 Denise // Oct 24, 2010 at 8:17 pm
would love to have a book the kiddos can be proud that they live in KY~
46 Jenny // Oct 25, 2010 at 10:32 am
By the cover, it looks to be a great de-stresser along with a hot bath or a comfy chair beside your tent. Thanks for the opportunity!
47 Lacy Robinson // Oct 28, 2010 at 11:57 am
I loooove the view from Jeptha Knob in Shelbyville. It’s the highest point in Kentucky and the view is simply breathtaking. It’s the view, plants, trees, deer, turkey, birds and coyote howls that make Jeptha Knob an incredible place to become one with Kentucky’s nature.
Leave a Comment