Baileys Harbor Joins Green Tier Program

The Baileys Harbor Town Board this month unanimously approved participation as a Green Tier Legacy Community, joining other Door County municipalities, including the towns of Gibraltar and Liberty Grove, the villages of Egg Harbor, Ephraim and Sister Bay, the City of Sturgeon Bay and the County of Door.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) designation offers benefits that include special consideration for select state grants, notifications about funding opportunities, peer-to-peer learning and resource sharing, an assigned DNR liaison and access to sustainability webinars and regional collaboration opportunities.

A volunteer group spearheaded by Sam Nelson along with Linda Mattes, Roberta Thelen, Kurt Kiefer, Katie Krouse, Scott Bennett and Jeff Lutsey, will help with many duties associated with the designation. Thelen, a town supervisor, said the committee probably won’t push for every objective of Green Tier but will work to make feasible recommendations.

“The committee looks to be the one to get the ball rolling to meet the criteria of the Green Tier,” said Thelen. “It will be initiating a whole new program but a lot of other Door County communities are doing it. They give a lot of structure to the program.”

She said the DNR also can provide guidance on various programs or projects that make sense for Baileys Harbor.