F-326498 



FiGLRr, 2.—1]'hen phnited to corn, slopes like this one in Clay 

 County erode rnpidix and eventually are abandoned. 



much land that ^\as once farmed. Farming is onh 

 locally important in this region. Coal is the most 

 important resource and mining the chief occupa- 

 tion. Rugged topogi'aphy has hindered highway and 

 railroad building, and poor transportation has in 

 tmn retarded forest industry. Cumberland National 

 Forest, Kentenia State Forest, and Kentucky Ridi^e 

 State Forest are all located here. 



The Bhteayoss 



This famous region, the most lightly forested area 

 of the State, has 22 percent of the total land area but 

 only 11 percent of the forest land. It is the wealth- 

 iest, most industrialized, and most heavilv popu- 

 lated region in the State. The original forests were 

 cut and the land cleared because the fertile soils 

 and gentle terrain that predominate made such fme 

 farm and pasture land (fig. 3). In 1949 nearly half 

 the States farm products were grown in this region. 



Because this is the State's best farmland, forests ^1 

 are restricted to the steeper slopes and poorer soils. 

 The proportion of land in forest varies from 2 per- 

 cent in Botubon County to 52 percent in Trimble 

 Cotmty. The timbered areas are mostly small farm 

 woodlands, and man\ are so heavilv crazed that 

 thev resemble well-shaded pasttnes rather than 

 forests. 



Fir.uRE ">.—Fine pastures like 

 this are common in the 

 Bluegrass region. Man\ < 

 these pastures arc parti. i 

 timbered to provide jtr,: 

 tection and shade for lii' 

 livestock. 



Forest Resource Rel)()rt Xo. 7, L . S. Di-jxit liiieiit of Agriculture 



