New Door County Land Trust property is small, but its importance to water quality is big
SISTER BAY - The Door County Land Trust's newest protected property may be relatively small in size, but it's big in its importance to water quality and the ecosystem of a big nearby nature preserve and its surrounding areas.
The land trust acquired a 10-acre property about a mile and a half from the north side of its Three Springs Nature Preserve in Sister Bay. A large part of its importance is that it includes seasonal groundwater springs that are part of the headwaters of Three Springs Creek, which winds through the 515-acre preserve and drains into North Bay, which eventually flows into Lake Michigan.
The new property is off Waters End Road near its intersection with Old Stage Road in the Town of Liberty Grove. It has underground springs that pop out in the spring, and the water runs through wetlands that help filter it, then under Waters End Road and channels south to eventually become Three Springs Creek.
"Protecting these headwaters and wetlands, and the overall quality of the nature preserve, is important," said Jesse Koyen, the land trust's land program director. "It's the starting point of a healthy ecosystem."
In addition to the headwaters and wetlands, the new trust property also contains a variety of features and living things. There are a mature maple forests, a drumlin (finger-shaped hills formed by sediment and glacial flow) and an old agricultural field that Koyen said will be restored as a prairie for pollinators and birds. The wetlands not only filter the groundwater draining into the creek but also provide breeding habitat for herons and rare insects like the Hine’s emerald dragonfly. The forest also caters to birds migrating along the Mississippi Flyway.
The property is open to the public for visiting and hiking, but Koyen said the land trust plans to keep it rustic, with no amenities or parking.
It previously was owned by Ingrid Lawrenz, who grew up on the property and said she was interested in selling only to the land trust because of the abundance of species it holds.
"I'm very protective of it," Lawrenz said in a news release from the trust. "Every spring I go into the woods and it's full of wildflowers. In the woods, a spring bubbles up where we caught so many fish. It's amazing. There's also an increased population of fishers, gray and red fox and raccoons. Cougars and bears have also come through."
Three Springs Nature Preserve features a 1.75-mile looped hiking trail with a scenic lookout over springs and wetlands. The preserve also contains old stone fences and historic farm buildings, including a barn that is a significant roosting site for brown bats, on its 515 acres.
The Door County Land Trust protects more than 9,400 acres of wild places, scenic beauty and ecological integrity across Door County and its surrounding islands. It offers 15 featured nature preserves open to the public for hiking and other low-impact, non-motorized recreational activities, at no charge. For trail maps and more information, visit doorcountylandtrust.org.
Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.
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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Door County Land Trust acquires property to protect water, wildlife
