I drive over the interstate, watching the trucks and cars turn at an unlikely-looking street, feeling dwarfed by dump trucks full of gravel that tower over my small red car. I turn again, passing a row of houses and follow a long, waving line of chain link and barbed wire. I pull over at a gate with a yellow sign. Looking around, I seem to be in the middle of a mixed rural industrial complex, noise from the interstate drowning out the birds and insects. With this unlikely beginning to my day, I get out of my car. I am here to tour a nature preserve, wrestled out of the hands of development by a far-seeing, lifelong resident of central Kentucky.
Situated near Raven Run in southern Fayette County along the Kentucky River, Floracliff was established as a state nature preserve in 1995 and dedicated in 1996. This was five years after the death of Mary Wharton, the botanist and professor who had the vision to start purchasing the land in the late 1950s. Ms. Wharton, who grew up in Lexington, was the head of the Department of Biology at Georgetown College. While there, she edited and co-authored five different books, including her last with Roger Barbour of UK, Bluegrass Land and Life. This hard-to-find text was published right around the time of her death in 1991 and only had a small distribution. Its limited release and continued desirability have current prices for the used book soaring.
According to her friend Bob Wilson, a longtime board member at Floracliff, Professor Wharton “was quite concerned about the development occurring in the area and the loss of the culture of the bluegrass as it has existed for the past 150-200 years. She was a very determined person, quiet and soft spoken. People sometimes mistook that for being a pushover.”
Wilson doesn’t recall how Wharton first discovered this particular area of land, stating that “she traveled around a lot doing field botany. Floracliff contained a nice collection of plants and wildflowers, the kind she would like to preserve. I think she probably encountered it in her field studies.”
Numerous people describe Mary Wharton with words like “determined” and “single-minded.” Never married, living in the house she grew up in, she devoted her life to teaching, research, writing, and purchasing and endowing the land.
Starting in 1958, Wharton purchased multiple tracts of land to aggregate into the current 287-acre preserve. One of the last purchases includes a geologic wonder, a 61-foot waterfall in the course of Elk Lick Creek. At that height it would be spectacular enough for our area, but this one has additional appeal. It contains what preserve manager Beverly James says that most people call “a frozen waterfall.” It is a formation of tufa that looks like a giant stalagmite reaching up from the base of the falls to the top of the 61-foot drop. The frozen waterfall at Floracliff is considered to be one of the best examples of this type of geologic formation in the eastern United States. Tufa is the designation given to cold-water rock formations made of redeposited limestone, similar to travertine. As I stand at the top of the falls, watching water cascade over the limestone steps next to the rock formation, I can no longer hear the interstate, I forget the quarry. All I can hear is the rushing water, all I can see is the green moss on the rocks and the flowers that carpet the cool spring ground.
As you follow one of the guided tours of the nature preserve, you pass over the falls early on your hike. After that wonder, you notice wildflowers in abundance all around you. “I saw the first purple cress of the season the other day, and trout lilies will be blooming soon,” James says. You can join in on the hikes or participate in volunteer days at the preserve. Guided hikes usually follow a theme, such as wildflowers, birds or insects. The hikes are guided because Floracliff, unlike many other preserves, is private. James states that the intimate nature of the experience provides unique opportunities not found at other places. “People are surprised by the lack of litter.” They also “tend to learn more in this setting without other distractions and people. Everyone on a hike notices something new.”
The first preserve manager was Carey Ruff, who established many initiatives at Floracliff, including public education and pest-plant removal. “There was no active land management and little public outreach” at the time, but “the board members took people on hikes upon occasion.” Ruff worked hard on attacking pest plants and getting Floracliff into the public eye before she left in the summer of 2006. James states that under her watch, “over 200,000 Japanese honeysuckle shrubs were removed. It used to be work that required chain saws. Now we use loppers and brush cutters.” Ruff divided the property into land management zones that allow for planned, regular maintenance and supervision. She also had a strong vision for public outreach, something that James plans to continue and expand. “This summer we are re-starting the educators program that Carey did in 2004 and 2005.” The program is a week-long focus on the environment of Kentucky. The first rotation is focused on geology, soils, plants and water. The next is the wildlife of the state. “We also have developed curriculum packets for teachers on invasive plants. All programs are tied to curriculum standards” to help teachers at every grade level.
Board member Rob Paratley of the University of Kentucky has led numerous hikes at the preserve. He is also working on a comprehensive list of the plant species present at Floracliff. “The first 80 percent are easy, the next 15 take as much time as the first 80, and then the last 5 percent takes as much time again.” Paratley is a University of Kentucky lecturer in the Department of Forestry and is also curator for the herbarium. “Many of Mary Wharton’s plant specimens are here. She was an avid collector. She is represented in almost every section of the herbarium.” Other lists in progress are of birds, reptiles and amphibians.
I ask each person tied to Floracliff why it is so special. Many of them hesitate. Ruff, who dedicated years to its preservation and improvement said, “It’s a magnificent piece of property. It’s just such a treasure.” Wilson, whose family knew Wharton’s family when they were both children, said, “It’s a relatively unspoiled example of the Kentucky River Gorge and the hills that surround it. Even though it was farmed, many original plants still exist. It’s full of native plant and animal life.” His favorite place on the property? “I don’t know…but if I have to pick, I’d say down on the creek behind the cabin.”
The work of Floracliff never ends. As Wilson states, “Part of the directives from Ms. Wharton are for us to keep a minimum of intrusion. The locked gates help, but the biggest problem is pest plants. These plants, which come from other places, tend to take over and choke out the native plants if left to themselves. Some of the ones constantly being fought include Japanese honeysuckle, wintercreeper, multiflora rose, and garlic mustard. As these plants are eradicated, the native plants have room to spread. From hickories to orchids, trilliums to sedges, Floracliff has a wide array of plants that support the animals of the preserve.
With the creeks that feed into the Kentucky River on the property, James teaches about water quality by taking people out to sample the water and “count the macro invertebrates. These are insects in the early stages of their life cycle, which many start in the water.” Different numbers and species of insects tell you if your water is healthy or not. Many people participate in events like these, either to learn something new or to help the ongoing work of the preserve.
I ask Wilson for some specific memories of Mary Wharton. “The Sierra Club sent her to Washington to testify before Congress against the damming of the Red River Gorge. She was a scientist. She made sure of her facts before she took a stand. She wanted solid information to back her up.”
“She was very protective of the place. She kept the gate locked and didn’t let just anyone go out there. She asked my wife and I, along with the Wielands (also on the board), to go out. It was a nice spring day and we thought we would have a relaxing hike. She had a big lumbering Bronco back then and we drove out to the preserve. We got to the gate and she said, ‘Jim, Bob, there are some picks and shovels in the back.’ She had a job for us to do: clearing out a part of the creek channel. She was a difficult person to turn down.”
Today, 17 years after her passing, we can take hikes, volunteer our time, learn from and enjoy this part of Kentucky’s natural heritage. As we do, we can thank Mary Wharton for her vision and single-minded devotion to central Kentucky’s history and wildlife.
You can reach Floracliff to sign up for hikes by calling (859) 351-7770. Visit the Web site at: www.floracliff.org. A wildflower hike will be held on April 5 at 1 p.m.
Katherine Shaw is an educator and landscape consultant with her business, Wolf Tree Consulting. You can reach her at kwshaw@insightbb.com.