Environment at Core of The Clearing

Nearly 60 years after founder Jens Jensen’s death, The Clearing retreat in Ellison Bay holds true to his vision of conservation and responsibility to the land and future generations.

Ninety-four percent of The Clearing’s property (120) acres, were placed in a conservation easement with the Door County Land Trust. Most of the property is maintained in a natural state, with fallen trees left to decay and recycle nutrients back into the soil. Native plants and local stone are used in landscaping.

Roads and parking lots, an often overlooked aspect of an organization’s impact, are gravel, with no pavement or cement, mitigating the storm water runoff that has plagued the county’s waters.

In the heating season, thermostats are set at 55 when buildings aren’t in use. All buildings have high efficiency furnaces, and the newest building, the Workshop, has an energy recovery system.

To save every little bit of energy, signs are posted throughout the grounds reminding staff and students to turn off lights, turn down heat, and limit laundry use. The clearing chose its laundry service largely because it doesn’t wrap laundry in plastic.

Recycling, of course, is a staple. This extends to using wood scraps for kindling, and composting of fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, and even sawdust.

And The Clearing is educating a new generation of stewards, with classes covering bird watching, geology, native wildflowers, trees and shrubs, invasive species and land conservation efforts. Coursebooks and other literature is printed on recycled paper by a Forest Stewardship Council-certified printer.