BASKETT - Jim Bryan is helping turn hundreds of acres of Western Kentucky farmland into a forest.

The progress of his work will be measured in years at Green River State Forest, which covers 1,107 acres in Henderson County where the Green River flows into the Ohio River.

"That's the thing about forestry," said Bryan, who joined the state Division of Forestry in 2004. "You have to look a long way into the future. It takes so long for a forest to grow into a mature stand."

In recent years, 229,000 seedlings have been planted on about 500 acres of former farmland. Most were provided by American Electric Power, which could someday earn carbon pollution credits for having helped plant trees.

The bottomland portion of the forest has been planted in swamp white oaks, burr oaks, swamp chestnuts, water hickorys, cypress and pecan trees. Those seedlings were planted in 2002, when farming ceased on that portion of the property.

On higher ground, white oak, cherry-bark oak, Shumard oak and walnut trees were planted in 2004, a year after farming ceased.

Using a mechanical planter that Bryan said is reminiscent of a tobacco setter, seedlings have been planted 10 feet apart, resulting in 436 seedlings per acre. Not all will survive, but the plan is that by planting a heavy concentration of trees, enough will survive to produce healthy, mature trees.

"It will be 30 to 40 years before it looks like a forest," Bryan said. "It will be 60 years before it's a mature forest."

The state, using funds generated from Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation license plates and environmental fees, hopes to continue expanding the Green River site.

Bryan said the goal is to amass up to 3,000 acres along the Ohio and Green rivers.

The project also will serve as a research and demonstration site to help learn about reforesting and provide habitat for wildlife.