The Door Peninsula

Door Peninsula - Shivering Sands Preserve © Gerald H. Emmerich, Jr.

A slender limestone peninsula that juts out into Lake Michigan, the Door Peninsula is well-known in Wisconsin and beyond for its natural beauty and rich cultural heritage.

Its rocky cliffs, sandy beaches, marshy bays, fertile wetlands, and conifer forests provide habitat for plants and animals, some of which are found nowhere else in the world. The limestone that forms the rugged backbone of the peninsula is part of the Niagara Escarpment, an impressive work of geologic artistry that covers several states and two countries.

Who We Are
The Nature Conservancy has been working to protect wild places and wildlife on the Door Peninsula since 1962. We have three office staff and many volunteers who help us accomplish our mission. The Door Peninsula Office is located at 242 Michigan Street, Suite B103, in downtown Sturgeon Bay.

The Nature Conservancy is a non-profit conservation organization. Our mission is to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.

Our Conservation Goals

• Working with local communities to protect natural areas on the peninsula while balancing human needs and economic health in the region.
• Working with other organizations concerned with health of natural areas on the peninsula, including Door County Land Trust, The Ridges, and state and local governments.
• Managing our preserves to support healthy populations of native plants and wildlife.
• Providing information about the plants and animals of the peninsula to area residents and other interested parties.

How We Accomplish Our Goals

• Building partnerships with individuals, governmental agencies, other non-profits, and the business community to find ways to reduce the impact of unplanned development, improper forest management, run-off from agricultural fields, and invasive species that threaten the natural resources of the peninsula.
• Working with private landowners towards common goals for the protection of this ecologically unique area. Some ways we work with landowners include land acquisition, conservation easements, and land management techniques.

Conservancy Natural Areas on the Door Peninsula
The Conservancy owns 3,762 acres at six preserves on the peninsula, including:

As of May 27, 2009, the Conservancy has helped protect a total of 5,738 acres on the Door Peninsula at these five preserves and at other places like Toft Point, Jackson Harbor Ridges, Baileys Harbor Boreal Forest, and Whitefish Dunes State Park.  This figure includes lands owned and managed by the Conservancy, conservation easements, government co-ops and assists.

How You Can See Our Work
Most Nature Conservancy preserves are open for public use as long as visitors enjoy these lands for passive recreation only - hiking, bird-watching, nature study, and photography. Deer hunting is allowed at preserves by permission only. The Conservancy has published a guide to its preserves in Wisconsin called The Places We Save, which includes descriptions, maps, and directions to many of them. Contact our office for more information on how to purchase a copy.

Door Peninsula Staff
Mike Grimm, Conservation Ecologist
Scott Thompson, Director of Freshwater Conservation

If you have any questions about The Nature Conservancy's Door Peninsula project, please call us at (920) 743-8695 or stop by our office in Sturgeon Bay.

Door County Coastal Wetlands Resource Guide
As part of our outreach effort on the Door Peninsula, we have put together a resource guide on coastal wetlands in Door County. The information was compiled by Madison Environmental Group as part of a grant funded through the Wisconsin Department of Administration Coastal Management Program. Click here to access the guide in .pdf format.  Click the link below if you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader.