Kentucky Biological Information
http://www.nbii.gov/geographic/us/ky-nbii.html
The site contains a list of data sources and links from the National Biological Information Infrastructure and includes a very good list of federal, state, local, educational, and non-governmental agencies that deal with biodiversity.

Kentucky Rare Plant Recognition Act
KRS 146.600-666
The 2000 General Assembly enacted the Kentucky Rare Plant Recognition Act that establishes a Kentucky Natural History Museum. The General Assembly did not appropriate funds for this effort.

Kentucky Museum of Natural History
http://www.uky.edu/OtherOrgs/KMNH/museum.htm
Don Chesnutt of the University of Kentucky was working on the museum idea before the Kentucky Biodiversity Council started. In 1999, Professor Chestnut and the Council began working together on the museum idea.

Center for Biodiversity Studies at Western Kentucky University
http://biodiversity.wku.edu/
The Center for Biodiversity Studies at Western Kentucky University seeks to coordinate, promote and study biodiversity issues in the state.  Its objective is to serve as a resource for information relating to Kentucky biota, including basic demographic, evolutionary and ecological parameters and to promote the role of biodiversity in the economic development of the Commonwealth.

University of Kentucky Center for the Environment
http://tfce.uky.edumain.cfm
On Aug. 15, 2000, Tracy Farmer donated $2 million to establish a center on the Lexington campus to assist public and private organizations in addressing environmental issues and developing solutions.

Kentucky Institute for the Environment and Sustainable Development
http://www.louisville.edu/org/kiesd/
The Institute, formed in 1992 at the University of Louisville, consists of several centers that specialize in different areas of research into the environment and sustainable development.

Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest
http://www.bernheim.org/
Kentucky is lucky to have the privately owned, 14,000-acre Bernheim, with a nationally-recognized arboretum, beautiful gardens, tranquil lakes, a nature center, large expanses of scenic natural area, 30 miles of hiking trails and a 12,000-acre research forest.

Information Sources - Comprehensive

NBII:  The Nation's Biological Information System
http://www.nbii.gov/
The NBII links diverse, high-quality biological databases; information products; and analytical tools maintained by NBII partners and other contributors in government agencies, academic institutions, non-government organizations, and private industry.

Convention on Biological Diversity
The Convention on Biological Diversity's objectives are "the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources." The Convention is thus the first global, comprehensive agreement to address all aspects of biological diversity: genetic resources, species, and ecosystems. This site includes a Clearinghouse Mechanism that is an excellent information resource.

A Biological Survey for the Nation
http://biology.usgs.gov/pub_aff/nbs2_8_1.htm
The National Research Council's 1993 report on the formation of the National Biological Survey was a good idea, but was not implemented at that time. However, the USGS Biological Resources Division (http://biology.usgs.gov/) was formed. Within the BRD is the National Biological Information Infrastructure (http://www.nbii.gov/index.html).

Conservation Online
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/
CoOL, a project of the Preservation Department of Stanford University Libraries, is a full text library of conservation information, covering a wide spectrum of topics of interest to those involved with the conservation of library, archives and museum materials.

Natural Sounds Archive
http://bioacoustics.tamucc.edu
The Center for Bioacoustics (CFB) has a growing collection of sounds recorded from nature. Most of the original field recordings are done with portable digital recorders and are maintained in digital form in the archive. The CFB's recordings are available for research projects involving animal vocalizations. Arrangements can be made for commercial uses. In addition to the original field recordings, the center collects and houses commercially published collections and selected copies of items from other natural sound archives.

Patuxent Bird Songs
Recordings of bird songs from the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center.

Education

Environmental Education Resources on the Internet
North American Association for Environmental Education
This site has classroom resources, grant information, a calendar, and a wealth of environmental information.

Environmental Literacy Council
http://www.enviroliteracy.org/
This web site is helps students and teachers study environmental issues by guiding them to the best resources available on the Internet. Its goal is to help you find the information you need from high-quality sources and to introduce you to a variety of viewpoints and thoughtful analyses on environmental issues.

Biodiversity and Conservation
http://darwin.bio.uci.edu/~sustain/bio65/Titlpage.htm
A Hypertext Book by Peter J. Bryant, School of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine. The focus of the book is the origin, nature and value of biological diversity, the threats to its continued existence, and approaches to preserving what is left. This is a hypertext book, but most of the links leave the book in order to take advantage of documents produced and updated elsewhere. This resource is used in on campus and on line courses.

Biodiversity Insight Systems
http://biodi.sdsc.edu/
Research and development of systems for enabling analysis and visualization of environmental and biodiversity data for scientific insight.  Many computer applications.

Reading and Writing Naturally
http://www.readnwritenaturally.org/
Searchable database of children's literature related to environment and linked to Florida's Sunshine State Standards and Benchmarks.

National Council for Science and the Environment
http://www.cnie.org/
The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE)works to improve the scientific basis for environmental decisionmaking. Guided by the needs of stakeholders, NCSE educates society about the importance of comprehensive scientific programs that integrate cross-cutting research with knowledge assessments, education, information dissemination, and training.

The Aldo Leopold Foundation
http://www.aldoleopold.org/
Aldo Leopold was a great conservationist and the author of the land ethic. The writings of Aldo Leopold are still inspiring and relevant over 50 years after his death, especially A Sand County Almanac. 

Precious Heritage: The Status of Biodiversity in the United States
This is an excellent book published in March 2000 and sponsored by The Nature Conservancy and the Association for Biodiversity Information (now NIWA Environmental Research Institute). This richly illustrated volume not only documents the enormous breadth of U.S. species and ecosystems, but also considers how they are faring, what is threatening them, and what is needed to protect our nation's natural inheritance.

National Geographic WildWorld Web Site
Web site specifically addresses biodiversity and includes interactive maps of the earth's richest, rarest and endangered areas. 

The Evolution of the Conservation Movement:  1850-1920
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/amrvhtml/conshome.html
"The Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920" documents the historical formation and cultural foundations of the movement to conserve and protect America's natural heritage, through books, pamphlets, government documents, manuscripts, prints, photographs, and motion picture footage drawn from the collections of the Library of Congress.

The Nation's Invasive Species Information System
http://www.invasivespecies.gov/
A comprehensive, online information system that facilitates access to and exchange of invasive species data and resources.  Developed in accordance with Executive Order 13112 on Invasive Species, the site is guided by the Invasive Species Council, a federal, inter-agency, executive committee that is coordinating efforts to minimize the economic, ecological, and human impacts of invasive plant and animal species in the United States.

Guidelines for Stream and Water Protection in Kentucky
Publications developed by the Kentucky Division of Water.

Society for Ecological Restoration
http://www.ser.org/
The Society for Ecological Restoration is an international non-profit organization infused with the energy of 2500 members - individuals and organizations who are actively engaged in ecologically-sensitive repair and management of ecosystems through an unusually broad array of experience, knowledge sets and cultural perspectives.  Site has guidelines for design and management of restoration projects.

River Corridor and Wetland Restoration
http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/restore/
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency informational site that provides the what, why, who, and where of restoration.

Stream Corridor Restoration: Principles, Processes, and Practices
A manual of practice that is the result of an unprecedented cooperative effort among 15 federal agencies and partners to produce a common reference on stream corridor restoration.

Biota of North America Program
http://www.bonap.org/
Dr. John Kartesz, of the North Carolina Botanical Garden, founded the Biota of North America Program (BONAP) at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 1969. The program's goal is to develop a unified digital system for assessing the North American biota. The BONAP database now includes data for all vascular plants and vertebrate species (native, naturalized, and adventive) of North America, north of Mexico. The goal is to maintain the taxonomic, nomenclatural, and biogeographic data for all members of the biota.

USDA Plants Database
http://plants.usda.gov/
The PLANTS Database is a single source of standardized information about plants. This database focuses on vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories.

Species 2000
http://www.species2000.org/2005/search.php Species 2000 has the objective of enumerating all known species of plants, animals, fungi and microbes on Earth as the baseline dataset for studies of global biodiversity. It will also provide a simple access point enabling users to link from here to other data systems for all groups of organisms, using direct species-links.

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
http://www.nfwf.org/
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to the conservation and management of fish, wildlife, and plant resources, and the habitats on which they depend. Among its goals are species conservation, habitat protection, environmental education, natural resources management, habitat and ecosystem rehabilitation and restoration, and leadership training for conservation professionals.  The Foundation, along with others, founded the Partners in Flight program.

USDA Wildlife Services
http://www.aphis.usda.gov
The Wildlife Services (WS) program responds to requests by the public and agencies in need of help in dealing with wildlife damage. A federal service program that shares costs with cooperators, WS is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). WS has the authority to assist in solving problems that are created when wildlife causes damage to agricultural, urban, or natural resources. WS also assists with wildlife problems involving threats to human health and safety and threatened or endangered species.

Migratory Bird Conservancy
http://www.conservebirds.org/
The Migratory Bird Conservancy is the only program devoted exclusively to conservation of birds and their habitats. They are involved in Partners in Flight.

Bailey's Ecoregions
http://www.fs.fed.us/land/ecosysmgmt/ecoreg1_home.html
This volume was originally published in 1978 to provide a general description of the ecosystem geography of the Nation.  The USDA Forest Service reprinted it in 1980.  The technique of mapping ecoregions was subsequently expanded to include the rest of North America (Bailey and Cushwa 1981) and the world (Bailey 1989). In 1993, as part of the Forest Service's National Hierarchical Framework of Ecological Units (ECOMAP 1993), ecoregions were adopted for use in ecosystem management. They will also be used in the proposed National Interagency Ecoregion-Based Ecological Assessments.

Ohio River Valley Ecosystem Team
http://orve.fws.gov/index.html
Lead by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, this group is focusing on biodiversity issues in the Ohio River and its watershed.

Growing Greener
http://www.natlands.org/categories/subcategory.asp?fldSubCategoryId=26
A conservation approach to land development codes and ordinances.

Teaming with Wildlife
http://www.teaming.com/
The place to find out about the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA), an effort to fund the Land and Water Conservation Act. The bill has passed the House and a Senate committee as of August 2000. If it passes, it will mean millions of dollars for conservation efforts in Kentucky, on an ongoing basis. The Kentucky Biodiversity Council is on record as a supporting organization.

Kentucky Nature Plate
Anyone who values Kentucky's biodiversity should have a nature plate on their vehicle.


Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

The Nature Conservancy
http://nature.org/
The mission of The Nature Conservancy is to preserve plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. The Kentucky Chapter works closely with state agencies, such as the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission, to protect land in our Commonwealth.

World Wildlife Fund
http://www.worldwildlife.org/
Known worldwide by its panda logo, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is dedicated to protecting the world's wildlife and wildlands. The largest privately supported international conservation organization in the world, WWF has more than one million members in the U.S. alone.  WWF sponsored the 1999 National Biodiversity Education Leadership Institute, attended by Council Chair Ward Wilson.

The Society for Conservation Biology
http://conbio.net/scb/
The Society is an international professional organization dedicated to promoting the scientific study of the phenomena that affect the maintenance, loss, and restoration of biological diversity. 

Kentucky Native Plant Society
The Kentucky Native Plant Society was founded in 1986 for everyone interested in the native plants and wildflowers of Kentucky - plants that are essential to both the well-being of the Commonwealth's natural ecosystems and to our enjoyment of its unique environment. With over 800 members in Kentucky and neighboring states, the Kentucky Native Plant Society is a leader in promoting education about, appreciation for, and conservation of our native plants.

The Trust for Public Land
http://www.tpl.org/
Trust for Public Land is the only national nonprofit that is working exclusively to protect land for human enjoyment and well being. TPL helps conserve land for recreation and spiritual nourishment and to improve the health and quality of life of American communities.

Land Trust Alliance
http://www.lta.org/
The Land Trust Alliance promotes voluntary land conservation and strengthens the land trust movement by providing the leadership, information, skills and resources land trusts need to conserve land for the benefit of communities and natural systems.

Biodiversity Action Network
http://www.bionet-intl.org/
Biodiversity Action Network (BIONET) was established in 1993 at a meeting of NGOs in Washington, D.C. in response to the need for an NGO network on biodiversity issues. BIONET's mission is to advocate the effective implementation of the Biodiversity Convention worldwide, primarily through coordinated, joint NGO programs and information dissemination designed to catalyze governmental action.

Additional sites related to biodiversity can be found using the following links.

Yahoo

Kentucky State Nature Preserves

Convention on Biological Diversity

Bioseek Biodiversity Search Engine