 The Barrens
A botanist who passed through the Barrens of Kentucky in 1802 described the area as having hardly a tree as far as the eye can see. There are legendary tales of people riding on horseback for days and at times not being able to see over the tops of the grasses. Through elimination of the extensive animal herds, suppression of fire, and the conversion of the land to crops and pastures, the barrens rapidly disappeared, and today only small fragments of this unique ecosystem remain in Kentucky.  |
When the first Europeans came upon this region of Kentucky, they discovered an area quite different from the rugged
hills and thick forests encountered farther east. Early documentation of south-central and western Kentucky describes it as vast plains of grasslands,
with trees being widely scattered or absent. Today we call these areas "prairies", but in those days, these explorers were not familiar with this
French word. They called these grasslands the "barrens" because they thought the soil was too poor to support trees.