More Land Protected on St. Martin Island

The Nature Conservancy recently announced that it has protected another 36 acres of forest and Lake Michigan shoreline on St. Martin Island thanks to generous gifts from the former owner in Milwaukee and a Conservancy supporter from Mequon.

St. Martin Island is located in Michigan waters about five miles from Washington and Rock islands at the tip of the Door Peninsula. It provides critical stopover habitat for birds that migrate through the Great Lakes each spring and fall, as well as habitat for fish and other wildlife. In November 2013, the Conservancy purchased the majority of the island – 1,244 acres – from the Fred Luber family of Milwaukee.

The Conservancy acquired the additional 36 acres from David Uihlein, Jr., president of Uihlein-Wilson Architects in Milwaukee. A generous gift from Thora Vervoren of Mequon funded the Conservancy’s purchase of the property from Uihlein.

“I was fortunate to visit St. Martin Island with Martha Luber this summer, and it’s just a gem,” said Vervoren. “I love birds and have always wanted to do something for bird conservation in the Door County area. Helping to protect St. Martin Island is the answer to my quest.”

“The land we purchased from Mr. Uihlein is largely cedar and white birch forest along the Lake Michigan shoreline,” said Mike Grimm, Nature Conservancy ecologist. “Because it is on the shoreline, rather than farther inland, it will provide particularly good habitat for migrating birds.”

“Since we purchased the Luber property in November 2013, scientists from the Conservancy, University of Wisconsin, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and other agencies have visited the island, surveying the plant and animal life,” added Grimm. “They have turned up some interesting things including the abundance of migratory bird species, swarms of migrating green darner dragonflies, 52 species of spiders and the rare dwarf lake iris, which was believed to have disappeared entirely from the island.”

For more information visit nature.org/st_martin.