By Deb White
For many years, beautiful wood carvings of native plants have been specially made by Bob Van Hoff as a fundraiser during KPNS Wildflower Weekend. Bob says he has been carving since he was about 11 years old and got serious about carving, mostly fish and birds, in 1970. He’s made carvings of over 299 species of birds! Some of his larger fish works, like musky and gar, were made for visitor centers.
Bob worked as a biologist and ranger for the Army Corps of Engineers and assisted with state plant conservation efforts. He worked to establish populations of Eggert’s sunflower (Helianthus eggertii), once a threatened plant listed at both the state and federal levels, around Nolin Lake. He notes that one transplant in his yard has become about 2,000 stems over the last 20 years, a project Tom Barnes (renowned UK plant biologist who inspired conservation projects all over Kentucky) encouraged. He also worked with Tom to establish prairie at Barren River Lake and Salamone Lake in Indiana.
We thank Bob for creating this wood carving for KNPS and look forward to seeing what he creates for Wildflower Weekend this year!