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Giving Green

(Left to right) Linda Laarman, board member of the Door County Community Foundation, hands over the grant money to Coggin Heeringa, Director of Crossroads at Big Creek.

The Green Fund of the Door County Community Foundation recently awarded Crossroads at Big Creek a Sustainability Grant to support the acquisition of the Ida Bay Preserve.

The Ida Bay Preserve was donated to Crossroads at Big Creek by the Nature Conservancy. The Conservancy received the property as a bequest from the Ida Bay Estate in 1995 and since then has managed the site as a natural area in accordance with Mrs. Bay’s wishes. The Conservancy’s donation of the property will come with an endowment to be held by the Door County Community Foundation. Earnings from the endowment will be used to allay annual costs for stewardship of the property.

The Ida Bay property includes an old-growth forest of large red oaks, tall pines, white cedar, hemlock, sugar maple and beech. The 64.69-acre tract is bordered by Cove Road, Canal Road and Zenith Street and lies less than a mile from Crossroads’ Utah Street entrance. Crossroads will continue to maintain the site as a natural area, open for nature study and quiet recreation.

Learn more about Crossroads at Big Creek by visiting crossroadsatbigcreek.com.