The goal of conserving and restoring yellowwood trees has brought about the Division of Forestry’s designation of 591 acres of Yellowwood State Forest as a High Conservation Value (HCV) forest area.

Yellowwood is a state endangered tree species known to occur naturally in Indiana only in Brown County in Yellowwood State Forest and Brown County State Park, at the northern end of the species’ natural range. The closest known concentrations of yellowwoods to Indiana’s are in Kentucky and the southern tip of Illinois.

The HVC designation, which is consistent with the Forest Stewardship Council® certification of state forests (FSC®- C012858), means the top priority of forest management activities done in the HVC area, including forest stand improvement, invasive species control, and timber harvesting, will be conservation and restoration of yellowwood trees.

“Careful implementation of these practices will allow existing yellowwood trees to remain healthy, and the additional sunlight made available can result in higher flower and seed production, allowing new trees to develop,” said John Seifert, director of the Division of Forestry.

Public recreational use of the HVC area, called the Yellowwood Conservation Area at Yellowwood State Forest, will continue to be encouraged. Among these activities are hunting, hiking, mountain biking, and horse riding on designated trails. The HVC area is located in the southeastern part of the state forest, east of Crooked Creek Road.

Yellowwood trees (Cladrastis kentukea) were discovered in Indiana by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers at Brown County State Park in 1933. Purdue Extension forester T.E. Shaw and Charles Deam, Indiana’s first State Forester, verified and documented the discovery. Stands of yellowwoods were later discovered on what became Yellowwood State Forest.

“Because Indiana’s yellowwood trees are located so far from any other yellowwoods in the United States, scientists at one time wondered if they might be genetically distinct from all other yellowwood trees,” said Allen Pursell, director of Forest Conservation with The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

Genetic analysis done by TNC and Purdue University found that the ancestors of these trees arrived to what would become state land thousands of years ago and have since then been isolated from all other yellowwoods.

The first appearance of the name Yellowwood State Forest occurred in the July 1940 issue of Outdoor Indiana magazine. Yellowwood State Forest comprises 25,117 acres. More about Yellowwood State Forest is at dnr.IN.gov/forestry/4817.htm.

Media contact: Mike Spalding, Resource Specialist, Morgan-Monroe/Yellowwood State Forests, Division of Forestry, 765-792-4654.