The Western Plateau 



The Western Plateau region has nearly half ot 

 the total land and 40 percent of the forest land. 

 The proportion of land in forest varies from 12 per- 

 cent in Simpson County to 64 percent in Wayne 

 County. 



This region includes four distinct types of topog- 

 raphy. Along the northeast border of the region is 

 a narrow band of hills 10 to 20 miles wide and 

 about 230 miles long. These steep, conical, lime- 

 stone and sandstone capped hills, rising 400 to 700 

 feet above the Bluegrass Plateau are known as the 

 knobs (fig. 4). For the most part they are timbered; 

 their thin, stony, shale-loam soils are too poor and 

 their slopes too steep for farming. Stream and sheet 

 erosion in the area have developed broad bottom 

 lands of deep, heavy-clay soils. 



In the north-central part of the Western Plateau 

 region is the Western Coal Field, an area of rounded 

 hills 400 to 500 feet high dissected by the Ohio, 

 Green, and Tradewater Rivers and their tributaries. 

 The area is known mainly for its minerals but is 

 also an important farming area. Oil, gas, and rock 

 asphalt, as well as coal, are produced. The alluvial 

 bottom-land soils are deep and fertile, though some 

 of them require draining. Many of the unchained 

 areas support fine stands of bottom-land hardwoods. 

 The upland soils, though fertile, are thin, light- 

 textured, and subject to severe erosion (fig. 5). 



In the extreme western part of the region, west 

 of the Tennessee River, is a low, undulating plain 



susceptible to rapid erosion. Sharp gullies develop 

 rapidly where the soil is irot protected. The soils 

 were formed mosth from unconsolidated sandstone 

 and shale covered with loess. They are fertile except 

 where poorly drained. The bottom-land areas are 

 \ery fertile but are exposed to flooding, and drain- 

 age is slow. As a result, much of the bottom land has 

 not been cleared and is supporting good stands of 

 hardwoods. 



The southeastern part of this region is a gently 

 rolling upland plain with a belt of rough topog- 

 raphy bordering the Western Coal Field. Thous- 

 ands of limestone sink holes are found here. Under- 

 ground drainage is common and there are many 

 caves, Mammoth Cave being the best known. Most 

 soils of Kentucky developed under forest cover, but 

 this area had a few small natural prairies in the 

 headwaters of the Barren River. Except in the rough 

 part of the region, farming is important though the 

 soils are not quite as productive as those of the 

 Bluegrass. 



Economic and Social Characteristics 



Kentucky is a State of small towns and villages. 

 In 1950 the total population was 2.9 million. About 

 one-third of the people live in towns. Only 15 towns 

 have a population of 10,000 or more and only 3 

 cities have more than 50,000. The labor force totals 

 about 1 million persons. 



Manufacturinar and aajriculture are the two most 

 important economic activities in Kentucky. Manu- 



F-295717 



Figure 4— A typical kuob 

 above the agricultural lauds 

 of the Bluegrass Plateau. 

 Site conditions and tree 

 growth are generally poor 

 on these knobs. 



heutiicky's Forest Resources and Industries 



