Door County is a special place to everyone for different reasons. Many find peace when hiking in the forested areas, seek relief from the heat on the shoreline, or look forward to picking cherries in the orchard. Without the Door County Land Trust, some of these sacred spaces wouldn’t be accessible.
The Door County Land Trust was established in 1986 and since their start, they have protected, maintained and enhanced natural areas of Door County. This non-profit, non-governmental organization has protected over 8,000 acres of fields, wetlands, and shoreline.
The Land Trust protects land in three primary ways. First, they purchase high priority properties that have ecological or scenic significance in Door County. Second, they accept land donations from individuals who wish to permanently have their land protected. Last, they enter into conservation easement agreements which restrict excessive development on the land.
All of the lands that are owned by The Land Trust, like Kangaroo Lake Nature Preserve and White Cliff Nature Preserve, are open to the public. All 14 of the nature preserves are open to the public for hiking, snowshoeing, fishing, hunting, and wildlife observation. These preserves offer more than 27 miles of marked hiking trails.
Wisconsin protects and allows public access to about 16 percent of the state’s land. In comparison, there are 300,000 acres that make up Door County, 10 percent of this land is permanently protected. That means that roughly 31,000 acres are under permanent protection!
If you want to support or be involved with the land stewardship The Door County Land Trust offers events and outings throughout the year. The next event they are holding is a “Protecting Endangered Species Walk” on July 22.
I encourage everyone to get outside and enjoy the beauty that the peninsula has to offer thanks to the help of The Door County Land Trust!
For more information on the different nature preserves or on upcoming events visit: http://www.doorcountylandtrust.org/
-Emily Reise, Marketing Intern
