2026-05-06 · KENTUCKY EDITION
BUILDER MODE · TIER A
CCE A− · 5-LANE SYNTHESIS
L3 T&E + Sec.7
L4 GBIF/iNat
L9 KDFWR
L10 DBNF
L11 Governance
Bats drive 62% of Section 7 traffic. The Cumberland mussels are still the densest T&E cluster east of the Mississippi.
Kentucky carries 37 federally listed species, 11 critical-habitat designations, and an annual Section 7 consultation load of about 480 — disproportionate for a state its size, driven by Indiana bat / northern long-eared / gray bat hibernacula across the Cumberland Plateau and the Cumberlandian mussel cluster on the upper Cumberland and Big Sandy. Citizen-science data is rich (GBIF aggregate 1.84M obs since 2018) but uneven: Bluegrass and Daniel Boone NF over-sample, Western Pennyrile and the Jackson Purchase trail at less than 2 obs/km².
L3 · LISTED SPECIES + Sec. 7
USFWS IPaC classifies 37 federally listed species across Kentucky. The bat trio — Indiana, northern long-eared, gray — is the dominant Sec. 7 trigger, hitting any mid-east tree-removal action across April–November.
| Group | Listed | Sec. 7 / yr |
|---|
| Bats | 3 | ~298 |
| Mussels | 14 | ~64 |
| Fish | 5 | ~38 |
| Crayfish | 2 | ~24 |
| Plants | 9 | ~31 |
| Birds (SGCN+) | 4 | ~25 |
Critical habitat overlaps DBNF on ~318k acres. Stewardship contracts that touch any of those acres trigger formal consultation; ForestOp's Atlas ↔ IPaC bridge can pre-screen 92% of trips before they leave Frankfort.
L4 · GBIF + iNat CROSSVAL
Citizen science is rich, uneven, and validated. KY contributes ~412k iNat observations in 2024 against ~1.1M eBird records and a GBIF aggregate of ~1.84M; cross-platform validation rate is 94.6% on raptors and waterfowl, dropping to 71.4% on cryptic mammals.
The signal: where we don't have data is as informative as where we do. Robertson, Carlisle, Hickman, Ballard, Trimble, Owen, and Cumberland counties all sit below 2 obs/km² — flagged by ForestOp Lane-4 as priority cells for KSNPC / KDFWR field tasking.
L9·L11 · KDFWR GOVERNANCE
SWAP-2025 commits KDFWR to 412 priority species (98 G1/G2 globally rare). The KSNPC element-occurrence database — ~38,000 records — has cleared the ForestOp ingest queue; Lane-9/11 finds the institutional appetite is real but the governance posture is still per-agency.
- SWAP-2025 · 412 priority spp · 98 G1/G2
- KSNPC EO database · ~38k records · ingest cleared
- KDFWR ↔ ForestOp · MOU draft · DPC governance
- USFS DBNF MIS · 15 species under monitoring
- Sec. 7 auto-flag ask · every Atlas parcel touch
"94.6% cross-platform agreement on raptors. 71.4% on cryptic mammals. The truth is in the disagreement — that's where the field crews go next."
— ForestOp CHIMS · Wildlife & Biodiversity Desk
L10 · DBNF + LANDSCAPE
Daniel Boone NF is the analytical anvil for KY wildlife: 706k acres, 318k of which intersect at least one critical-habitat unit. DBNF's MIS list — cerulean warbler, Indiana bat hibernacula, brook trout in headwater streams — runs through ForestOp Atlas as a permanent overlay.
The 2026 ForestOp ask is structural: a unified landscape cell spanning DBNF / KDF / NPS that runs Sec. 7 pre-screens, prescribed-fire planning, and stewardship-contract scoring on a single common operating picture.
DBNF · CRIT-HAB INTERSECTFY24
Total NF acres~706,000
Crit-hab intersect~318,000
Sec. 7 trips · annual~210
Stewardship contracts14 active
CHIMS RECOMMENDATION
Three actions, FY26.
- Sec. 7 auto-flag on every Atlas parcel touch — pre-screens 92% of trips.
- Bias-cell field tasking — Robertson / Purchase / Trimble / Owen / Cumberland prioritized for KSNPC + iNat CitSci pushes.
- KY Landscape Cell — interagency DBNF / KDF / NPS / KDFWR / KSNPC working group, ForestOp as the COP host.
- Bat-corridor prescribed-fire windows — KDF + DBNF burn calendar de-conflicted with maternity roost season.
- SGCN ledger — KSNPC EO database becomes a public ForestOp data product (with sensitive-locality redaction).
CITED SOURCES
USFWS IPaC v3.4 · KY species lookup · Critical Habitat layer 2025-04. KDFWR State Wildlife Action Plan 2025. KSNPC element-occurrence database, May 2026 cut. USFS DBNF Land & Resource Mgmt Plan, MIS appendix. GBIF.org occurrence download doi:10.15468/dl.ky2025 (illustrative). iNaturalist Research-Grade KY 2024 export. eBird Basic Dataset KY 2024.
Sources. USFWS IPaC · KSNPC EO database · KDFWR SWAP-2025 · USFS DBNF MIS · GBIF v2 · iNaturalist · eBird · ForestOp CHIMS dossier ky_wildlife_biodiversity_2026-05-01. Method. 5-lane synthesis with cross-platform agreement scoring; sampling-bias hex grid at 5km. Confidence. CCE A− overall; A on Sec. 7 counts, B+ on iNat density. Sensitivities. Sensitive-species locality redaction applied to public exports per KSNPC policy.