It had been almost three years to the day from when we had last visited Griffith Woods. The plan was to hike an additional section of this 746 acre preserve in search of “The Three Sisters” – three majestically large and centuries old Chinkapin Oaks reported to be clustered together somewhere on this property. Unfortunately their location is not mentioned on resources available to the public.

For me, late winter is the best time to study big deciduous trees – without leaves, their structure and bark can best be appreciated and the sheer mass of wood understood.

The property that became Griffith Woods Wildlife Management Area was formerly called Silver Lake Farm and had been worked by the Griffith family from 1810 until 2003, when it was acquired by the Nature Conservancy. The Conservancy was interested in protecting the site as it was thought that the large tract most closely represented the Bluegrass Savanna, a grassland plant community that reportedly was the dominant ecosystem of Central Kentucky prior to European settlement. The property was sold to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources in 2011 and was made a Wildlife Management Area.

Being a big tree enthusiast I was excited to be back to Griffith Woods. Leaving the parking area we headed southeast through an open field. Over the past twenty years, with the absence of cattle, the pasture grasses have been replaced by a mixture of forbs (non-grass herbaceous flowering plants) and a few isolated trees have staked a presence in the field. Noted in the picture below, and the title photo, are extensive clumps of River Cane, a native bamboo. The River Cane ecosystem, the canebrake, is endangered across the south due to habitat loss. River Cane was reintroduced to Griffith Woods on projects from 2003 to 2006 and has continued to reestablish itself. I have read that cane was the primary winter food source for the Bison and Elk when the other grasses of the savanna went dormant.

Although at first glance the cane looks dead, on closer inspection green leaves and canes could be found.

This can be identified as our native cane (bamboo), as compared to an invasive non-native bamboo, by the angle at which its small branches arise. In native cane the angle is tight and the branch is close to the main stem. In non-native bamboos the branches arise at a broader 45 degree angle from the stem.

Native and non-native angles of branching.

Once we hit the first fence row, we headed east to walk a different section of the preserve. Doing so we came upon this tree specimen that was missing most of its heartwood. This process was probably started by a lightning strike which removed a strip of bark. The exposure allowed the entry of insects and fungi that then destroyed the heartwood. I believe that it was a Shellbark Hickory.

This outing took place shortly after parts of Kentucky had experienced torrential rains and flooding, making our trek challenging at times.

We continued walking the fence rows of the old pastures. Stately trees in the distance were the lure that led us across the property. Unfortunately thick undergrowth and saturated soils limited access to some of these.

Eventually we turned onto a mowed path that ran between a fence row and a true wood and we could see a number of large trees spaced along the pathway. The first of these appeared to have survived a catastrophic injury where it lost a large part of its crown. Somehow a horizontal branch became the new leader, growing sharply vertical to provide the majority of the tree’s crown. It is surprising that insect and fungi had not led to more rot in the damaged part of the tree.

Looking up the mowed lane we could see several additional big trees. Unfortunately some appeared to be in a declining state of health which I think is just due to age and accumulated damage from storms.

There were however some healthy specimens.

It is hard to give perspective on the size of these trees without positioning a person in the photo for comparison. Each of these specimens was easily over three feet in diameter.

All the large trees that we saw on this stretch of trail were Blue Ash. The easiest way to identify them as ashes was by the opposite branching of the twigs in the canopy (circled below). There are only four types of trees that have opposite branching: Maple, Ash, Dogwood, and Buckeye. A mnemonic to help remember those is MAD-Buck , using the first letter of the first three species along with Buck for buckeye. Of these, only ashes would get as large as the trees that we were seeing. Luckily, Blue Ashes had a 90 percent survival rate against Emerald Ash Borer. By comparison only 1% of White and Green Ash survived Emerald Ash Borer. On a positive note foresters are seeing young White Ashes germinating and surviving in areas where mature trees have died.

A little tired of trekking through the sodden terrain we headed back to the parking area.

Odds and Ends – While we were mostly searching for massive tree specimens, we still enjoyed some smaller things along the route.

This spent Preying Mantis egg case was attached to the stem of a meadow plant.

Finding this feather lead me to a new tool – The Feather Atlas at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife website. Going through their key I was able to identify this as being from a Northern Flicker – somewhat a surprise at first, given the amount of yellow. But then I found images of flickers flying and the underside of their wings and tails are almost entirely yellow.

We enjoyed the contrast of this maple bark, moss, and a dusting of snow along the path.

So this is were we stand in our search for the Three Sisters. The pink, blue and purple markings are the areas we visited in 2022 and the red is the path we took at the end of February this year. The search will continue, with perhaps even another visit this month, before the trees leaf out.

Griffith Woods Rethought

As I walked the gentle slopes of Griffith Woods I interpreted everything as a disciple of the theory that the Bluegrass Savanna ecosystem was the historical landscape of Central Kentucky prior to settlement by people of European ancestry. I came upon that belief after reading Kentucky’s Last Great Places, a book by the late botanist Thomas Barnes that was printed in 2002, and that I cherished.

The hypothesis of Bluegrass Savanna as the predominant presettlement ecosystem of Central Kentucky was launched in the 1950s in a masters thesis by a UK student. In the 1980s, two well known botanists, William Bryant and Mary Wharton, became proponents of the hypothesis and it was gradually accepted as fact. The Bluegrass Savanna, as proposed, was characterized by grasslands dotted with the presence of massive, isolated, centuries old trees – primarily Bur Oak, Shellbark Hickory, or Blue Ash. The hypothesis suggested that the grasslands were maintained by migrating grazers like Bison and Elk that prevented widespread tree encroachment on the grasslands. The implication was that settlers then just moved in, “improved” their properties by adding fences and structures to the preexisting grassland landscape. Then, over the following 2 centuries, cattle and horses performed the work of the Bison to keep the grasslands free of woody plants, and giving us the Bluegrass vistas that we enjoy today. But the theory was wrong.

As I did follow up research on Griffith Woods for my ongoing pursuit of the Three Sisters, I stumbled onto some notations and publications of botanist Dr. Julian Campbell, including an email address. In desperation, I sent him a message with a couple of questions and his reply suggested that the presentation of the Bluegrass Savanna as the historical ecosystem of Central Kentucky was incorrect. He shared with me a journal article that he wrote in 2010 (see links below) that “soundly rejects” the Bluegrass Savanna hypothesis. Noting historical documents such as settlement era surveys, archeological relics from area indigenous people’s villages, early and modern botany collections, and narrative histories, he believes that the region was heavily wooded with a much broader collection of tree species than the Bluegrass Savanna theory suggests. The current thought is that the presettlement Central Kentucky landscape was about 20-40% deeply shaded woods dominated by Sugar Maples and Bitternut Hickory. About 50-70% of the land cover was a mix of deep shade and more open woods. Species found here were ash, elm, walnut, buckeye, oaks, and other hickories. Only 1-10% of the landscape was open, treeless grasslands, consisting of grass meadows, canebrakes (bamboo thickets), and shrubbery. These openings were concentrated along trails of larger animals, including humans, and around indigenous peoples camps or village sites.

These documents, especially the narrative histories, tell us that the bluegrass pastures of Central Kentucky were man-made after European settlement. Landowners, with their slaves and grazing animals, would clear the woodlands of most trees and the understory, and plant grasses on the exposed ground. Some suggest that Blue Ash, Shellbark Hickory, and Bur Oak were spared as they tended to thrive as isolated specimens growing in the grasslands. The shade from these trees benefited the livestock and allowed some grass to grow in the summer season when otherwise they would have turned brown and gone dormant. Dr. Campbell thinks that perhaps these trees were spared the saw for different reasons; the Blue Ash because it was a less valuable flooring board than white ash, the Shellbark Hickories because their nuts were a valued food source, and the Bur Oak because it grew fast and also was perhaps less valuable for timber than other members of the White Oak family. The field of dendrochronology, which studies tree rings, also supports the Heavy Woodland Theory. First, the tree ring analysis of the iconic 300-400 year old trees, that dot the pastures of Central Kentucky, shows that the massive horizontal branches that characterize these trees developed later in the trees’ lives, once their woodland competition had been removed. If these trees had originated in a grassland there would be evidence of lateral branch growth early in the trees’ lives, on the innermost tree rings. Also, tree ring analysis shows that those trees started to grow at a rate of two to three times their previous growth rate after settlement, when competition was removed.

This information challenged my support of the Bluegrass Prairie ecosystem as the historical plant community of Central Kentucky. As a scientist I enjoyed that further study by peer botanists and historians has given us a more accurate understanding of the ecosystem that existed in the Bluegrass Region prior to settlement by those of European ancestry. This is what science does – it questions long standing assumptions when new data or information presents itself. I will still relish my drives along the stone walled pastures of Central Kentucky, eyeing the massive trees and the rolling bluegrass, but will happily give a shout out to the scientists who questioned the status quo, did research, and proposed a more fact based answer to the historical ecosystem of the Bluegrass – the multi-species heavy woodland.

Griffith Woods still holds great value to me though the premise for its preservation is no longer accurate. With its sheer size, rolling terrain, and collection of massive Blue Ashes, Shellbark Hickories, and Bur Oaks, it is a unique venue and is a wonderful place to hike. Julian Campbell also stated that within this large acred property are areas of woods that would be considered old growth and noted to be hosting plants that are considered markers for plant communities that have never been disturbed. Finding those old growth areas will be my new pursuit. If you are a big tree enthusiast you should find your way to Griffith Woods, touch the massive trees, and take in their energy.

Thank you to Dr. Julian Campbell who was very generous with his time in explaining all of this to me, an amateur naturalist.

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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns and Patrick Burns (non-native bamboo only). The photo of the Northern Flicker was by Jordan Scanlon and posted on Reddit.

Overview:

Location – 77 miles south of Cincinnati and 15 miles off the Georgetown, KY I-75 exit.

Parking – Large well maintained gravel lot for approximately 10 cars.

Facilities – None.

Trail Conditions – Easy. The trails are grassed. They were moist when we visited and the soil was spongy near the creek crossings. I would ping your cars location on your phone as the trails are numerous and unmarked and it would be easy to get disoriented.

Print Map Link – https://fw.ky.gov/More/Documents/GriffithWoodsWMA_ALL.pdf

Benches – None.

Kids – Kids 5 and over should do well here with minimal assistance.

Dogs –Welcomed while on a leash.

Paired Hikes – On this large facility there are numerous directions and unnamed trails one could take.

Links:

https://app.fw.ky.gov/public_lands_search/detail.aspx?Kdfwr_id=9201

Here is Dr. Julian Campbell’s presentation that debunked the Bluegrass Savanna theory. It is very interesting reading.

https://bluegrasswoodland.com/uploads/Summary_Statement.pdf

Here is a link to an article that does an excellent presentation on River Cane.

https://forestryoutreach.berea.edu/rediscovering-north-americas-lost-biome/