Kentucky Fish & Wildlife Successfully Eradicates Ecologically Harmful ‘Tire Cemetery’

Imagine walking down a beautiful trail in rural Kentucky and coming upon an old tire. And then another tire, and another, and another. And then suddenly, it's like you've stumbled upon a "tire cemetery."

More Than a Thousand Tires

For lack of a better term, that's what I'll call it. These tires, and there were 1,100 of them, were clogging up a stream bed known as Muddygut Branch. Parts of it are very popular with folks fishing for bass. And it's quite difficult to maintain an ecological balance when there's that much rubber that needs to be eliminated.

From the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources:

When development projects impact streams or wetlands and on-site restoration isn’t possible, developers may pay into the FILO program. Those funds are then used by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources to restore aquatic resources or purchase and improve conservation lands, often in the same watershed as the impact.

FILO stands for "fee in lieu of" mitigation. FILO funds allowed KDFWR to purchase Muddygut Branch and restore it.

FILO

FILO specialists don't just move in when it's clear they are needed. Oftentimes, stream beds or wetlands are not on public property, so permission must be granted for the clean-up process to begin.

Land development is ongoing and will always be a fact of life. FILO is here to make sure that, during that process, our precious resources are protected and maintained. That means, when you discover more than 1,000 tires in a dry stream bed, it's time to take action.

I'm just now learning about the work FILO does, and we're lucky to have them.