Land Trust Meets Pebble Beach Goal, Village Begins Fundraising Effort

The Pebble Beach property includes 17 acres of cedar forest and 600 feet of shoreline. Photo by Brett Kosmider.

The Door County Land Trust has met its $500,000 fundraising goal to protect Pebble Beach fewer than two weeks after launching the effort.

A generous gift from donors Mary and Bob Wiley of Sister Bay put the effort to protect the 17-acre parcel, which includes 600 feet of pristine shoreline, over the top.

The land trust is partnering with the Village of Sister Bay to protect the property. The land trust committed to raising $500,000, and the Village will fund $1 million of the purchase price, then apply for a reimbursement grant through Wisconsin’s Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program. Though the land trust’s $500,000 goal has been met, any additional donations received will reduce the amount of funding the village needs. 

“Now that we know the land trust has reached their goal, we’re going to continue to fundraise through the land trust to help Sister Bay cover some of the costs coming through soon,” said Sister Bay Administrator Beau Bernhoft. “All of the funding will help offset what we don’t get in the grant. It will also help fund small future projects such as signage or bathrooms.”

The Wileys are making their donation to the Door County Land Trust to ensure that the beach will remain open for the public to enjoy. 

“Many places that were open in my youth have disappeared, and I want them to be open for future generations,” Bob Wiley said. “You hate to see these places go away.”

The Wiley family has been vacationing in Door County for generations. Bob Wiley’s great-grandfather, Professor Charles Melville Moss, arrived in Ephraim in 1887 and found room and board for his wife and four children at $6 per week. In 1901, Moss built a summer residence in Ephraim, and the family has been spending summers in Door County ever since.

Land Trust Executive Director Tom Clay praised the Wileys and the hundreds of others who have donated to the project.

“Never before in my 30 years of land-conservation work have I seen such an immediate and passionate outpouring of support to protect a particular landscape,” he said. “The people who love Door County are as wonderfully generous and unique as this incredible place we call home.”

The purchase of the property is planned for mid-September, and once that is complete, the Village of Sister Bay will own and manage the property, with a conservation easement agreement held by the Door County Land Trust, to ensure that conservation values of the property are protected. 

Make donations at DoorCountyLandTrust.org/PebbleBeach.