Land Trust Expands Bay Shore Blufflands Preserve

The Door County Land Trust announces the purchase and addition of a key parcel to its Bay Shore Blufflands Nature Preserve. The property is located at the base of the Niagara Escarpment approximately 10 miles north of Sturgeon Bay just inland of the shores of Green Bay. It is surrounded on the north, east and west by lands already protected by the Land Trust and hosts a large colony of the state threatened Ram’s head Lady’s-slipper orchid.

“We’re very excited about the acquisition of this property,” said Terrie Cooper, land program director for the Door County Land Trust. “Although it’s a small tract, it connects land that is already preserved and creates a corridor of specialized habitat. The Land Trust’s Bay Shore Blufflands Nature Preserve is home to one of the largest colonies of Ram’s head Lady-slippers in the state of Wisconsin and this acquisition expands that territory. Open lands in this area also help filter the water that runs off the escarpment into our ground water and the bay.”

The Land Trust was able to purchase and protect this latest addition to the Bay Shore Blufflands Nature Preserve with the help of Land Trust supporters and a grant from Wisconsin’s Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund.

In 2002, the state of Wisconsin designated the Bay Shore Blufflands Nature Preserve a State Natural Area. State Natural Areas are lands recognized for their high ecological value that support native biological communities.

The Bay Shore Blufflands Nature Preserve offers panoramic views of Green Bay and is open to the public for hiking, cross-country skiing, birding, hunting and other recreational uses. Marked trails, kiosks and parking areas are maintained by the Door County Land Trust. The Blufflands is one of three Door County Land Trust preserves in the area that encompass high quality habitat along the Niagara Escarpment bluffs. The Lautenbach Woods Nature Preserve and the Woods at Monument Point Preserve are located just a few miles north of the Bay Shore Blufflands.