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Kentucky Environmental Education Projects, Inc. (KEEP) is a non-profit membership organization interpreting and conserving biological and cultural resources through education, research, habitat enhancement and citizenship participation. KEEP's projects are far reaching in message and scope. Our initial efforts focus on assisting a Kentucky threatened species, the Osprey, through educational and public involvement. All aspects of the Osprey project and future projects are available for members, the general public, and supporting organizations.
Purpose - KEEP was established in 2001 to encourage and enhance educational opportunities while helping wildlife thru active conservation projects. KEEP was also established in an effort to preserve unique cultural resources that relate to our natural world. KEEP seeks to involve schools and the public to enhance learning thru direct and indirect involvement while meeting real needs and objectives. KEEP seeks to accomplish goals and objectives thru volunteer involvement and public and private memberships and donations. Projects involve hands on and real-time learning opportunities. Projects often directly assist other organizations such as state and federal agencies in meeting their objectives. KEEP has selected the osprey as a species of focus but has broader goals of biological and cultural resource conservation. KEEP’s projects serve as examples of what other organizations may wish to do to benefit people, wildlife and our environment.
Background – Ospreys are beautiful large birds of prey. Important reasons for selection of the osprey as a focus species is that ospreys are a global species and are excellent indicators of environmental quality. Pollution free water is paramount to the success of the osprey as a species, both locally and worldwide. Ospreys are uniquely adapted for catching fish for food. Due to the widespread use of DDT, a persistent pesticide, ospreys failed to successfully nest in Kentucky for about fifty years. Unfortunately, this was the case throughout most of the ospreys’ range in the US. President Richard Nixon and Tim Gardner, The International Osprey Foundation (TIOF) President met twice resulting in the ban of DDT in 1972 in the US and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency. By the 1980s DDT was no longer in the ospreys’ food chain at Lake Barkley, Kentucky. Federal and state wildlife organizations worked together to successfully reintroduce ospreys at Lake Barkley thru an osprey hacking project. Hacking is a falconry term meaning the gentle and gradual return to the wild of a captive bird of prey while maintaining the birds “wildness” by limited exposure to humans. Six-one ospreys were relocated by state agencies from a few locations in the Eastern US where ospreys were more numerous at the time. Ospreys were flown to Lake Barkley for hacking from 1981-1989. As a result, in 1986 Kentucky had its first osprey nests in 50 years! Three osprey nests were found including one at Lake Barkley (no eggs until 1988), a nest at Kentucky Lake (tree was illegally cut down on private property killing all chicks) and one at the Ohio River, young fledged. Two osprey chicks fledged at Lake Barkley in Lake Barkley’s first nest in1988. By 1996 twelve osprey nests were surveyed at Lake Barkley with only two other known nests in Kentucky, likely the same osprey pair at Kentucky Lake (relocated their nest to a navigation light the next year) and the same Ohio River nest.
Osprey surveys conducted by a federal agency at Lake Barkley ended in 1996. It was evident that surveys should resume from observations made at Lake Barkley during public Lake Barkley Eco Cruises conducted during 1999 by KEEP founder and director, Ed Ray. Ed volunteered to resume the annual osprey survey supported by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. During the surveys, it was apparent that many ospreys were nesting in hazardous locations with some nests being lost to high wind and flooding. Many new nests were blocking navigation lights required for public and commercial boating safety. It was reported that funds were no longer available to assist the ospreys and provide platforms to solve the navigation light problems. Ed suggested to agency personnel that a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization (KEEP, Inc.) would be established to help the ospreys and solve navigation light problems. Ed’s education background and desire to involve Kentucky students lead to involvement and needed assistance by schools, the public and other organizations. KEEP has been contacted by other states, wildlife departments and companies for advice and design plans for the KEEP/CCES osprey platform, which is always promptly provided.
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