Western Kentucky University President Gary Ransdell holds a $1,116,000 check with LaJuana Wilcher, Secretary of the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet. The check was awarded by the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund Board for the purchase of 671 acres in Hart County, now designated as the Upper Green River Biological Preserve.
The project was initiated by Drs. Albert and Ouida Meier and Scott Grubbs, in the WKU Center for Biological Diversity. Seven endangered species have been found in the site, which includes land on both sides of the Green River. Mammoth Cave National Park Superintendent Ron Switzer said he anticipates further close work between the Park, which is just downstream, and WKU.