The Daniel Boone National Forest is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year and will be spotlighted at the 6:30 p.m. July 12 Second Thursday program at the Bluegrass Heritage Museum.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a proclamation establishing the Cumberland National Forest in southern and eastern Kentucky on Feb. 23, 1937, under the Weeks Act, a 1913 law providing for the establishment of national forest lands in the eastern United States. It was renamed the Daniel Boone National Forest in 1966.
Frank Beum, forest supervisor, will discuss the 75th anniversary of the forest, which will be celebrated later this year, and Rex Mann, a 42-year veteran of the Forest Service, will share his experiences as a resource manager.
Beum, who came to Winchester in 2009, currently serves on the Southern Area Interagency Incident Management Blue Team as a liaison officer on complex wildfires and all-risk incidents.
For most of his career Mann was heavily involved in fighting forest fires and was responsible for managing some of the largest forest fires that have occurred in the nation, primarily in the western United States. He currently is involved with the American Chestnut Foundation, a non-profit group endeavoring to restore the tree, wiped out by an exotic blight 50 years ago.
All Second Thursday programs are at the museum, 217 S. Main St., and are open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
The Aug. 9 Second Thursday program will feature Denny Trease, long-time Lexington television newsman and broadcaster, discussing “One Tank Trips.”
