Lower Howard’s Creek Nature and Heritage Preserve

By guest con­trib­u­tor Karis Pumphrey, pre­serve manager

Since the pre­serve was estab­lished in 2000, we have helped to pro­tect the waters of–and near­ly 441 acres of land surrounding–Lower Howard’s Creek, all with­out the assis­tance of tax­pay­er funds. Please con­sid­er help­ing us con­tin­ue our mis­sion of pro­tect­ing rare, threat­ened, and endan­gered species, pro­vid­ing envi­ron­men­tal edu­ca­tion, and inter­pret­ing an impor­tant part of Clark County’s ear­ly his­to­ry dur­ing the Bluegrass Community Foundation’s annu­al non-prof­it GoodGiving Challenge. While nature has reclaimed the creek val­ley, vis­i­tors can still enjoy sto­ries and rem­nants of the area’s indus­tri­al begin­nings. Guided hikes are offered through­out the fall, win­ter, and spring months, while the John Holder Trail is open to hik­ers year-round on Tuesdays and Thursdays (and Saturdays dur­ing the winter). 

Thanks to last year’s donors, we were able to again improve over 10 acres of habi­tat by remov­ing non-native/in­va­sive species, recon­struct over 40 feet of dry stone fenc­ing, repair our John Deere trac­tor, install Diana Emerson Bush’s new bur­ial stone, and have the swing­ing bridge inspect­ed by a local engi­neer­ing firm.

The GoodGiving Challenge lasts 4 days this year, November 28-December 1. Because of the gen­eros­i­ty of a Friend of LHC, a $10,000 dol­lar-for-dol­lar match in hon­or of long-time vol­un­teer, Bill Crankshaw, is avail­able to com­pli­ment donor funds! This, in addi­tion to oth­er match­es, will increase your gift by 300%.

Thank you for con­sid­er­ing a dona­tion to our orga­ni­za­tion. We hope you will vis­it the creek soon!

https://www.bggives.org/organization/lowerhowardscreek