LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Bernheim Forest has been been protecting several endangered species since the Endangered Species Act was signed into law 50 years ago.
The forest in Clermont, Kentucky is celebrating the law's 50-year legacy that has helped to recover and protect the country's wildlife species. The Endangered Species Act has protected at least 1,662 U.S. species and 638 foreign species thus far.
Bernheim Forest currently has two bat species, the Indiana Bat and Northern Long-eared Bat, on the Federally Endangered Species List. According to a news release, Gray Bats are listed as threatened species and there are two candidate species, Tricolored Bat and Little Brown Bat, also at the forest.
All five of the bat species who live at the forest are at risk of extinction.Â
The Monarch Butterfly is a Candidate Species that Bernheim Forest supports as well. The butterflies reproduce at the forest's 300 acres of prairie habitat and is a stopover destination for many migrating butterflies passing through.
Bernheim Forest also harbors a small population of Federally Endangered Kentucky Glade Cress, a wildflower endemic found strictly in Jefferson and Bullitt counties, according to a news release.Â
To read more about endangered species Bernheim Forest serves, click here.
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