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St. Martin Island: Frequently Asked Questions

1) Why did TNC buy St. Martin Island? What’s special about it?

St. Martin Island is part of an important chain of islands in Lake Michigan between Wisconsin’s Door Peninsula and Michigan’s Garden Peninsula. These relatively undeveloped, forested islands provide refuges for birds as they travel through the Great Lakes in migration. They are safe places to land, feed and rest, which is critical to the birds’ survival.

Migrating butterflies, dragonflies and bats also use the islands. In fact, nearby Door Peninsula is one of the hottest spots for bat migration in the Great Lakes. We have a bat monitoring station at our North Bay Preserve that shows lots of bat activity during migration.

The broad shallow “flats” off the shore of St. Martin are likely to be a prime area for fish to spawn because those areas warm up faster and the eggs are protected from predators as they fall amongst the rocks.

St. Martin Island is part of the Niagara Escarpment and has significant bluffs, which have rare snails and plants associated with them. There was once a healthy population of Canada yew on the island, a shrub that is almost extinct in the upper Great Lakes. If we can get the deer population under control, we have a real opportunity to bring back this plant, which provides important nesting habitat for birds like Canada warblers and black-throated blue warblers.

In addition to the bluffs, the island also supports a diversity of other types of habitat including a large northern hardwood forest, some boreal conifer forest, a northern hardwood swamp and an extensive bedrock/cobblestone beach. The broad cobble shore off the southeast corner of the island is of high quality and especially rich in Great Lakes shore species.

2) The island is in Michigan, so why is The Nature Conservancy’s Wisconsin program buying it?

St. Martin Island is a cooperative effort between The Nature Conservancy’s Wisconsin and Michigan programs. The island is in Michigan waters, but the landowners live in Wisconsin and have been involved with the Conservancy’s work on the Door Peninsula for several years.

3) Who were the previous landowners? What led them to sell this land to The Nature Conservancy?

The portion of the island the Conservancy purchased was owned by the Fred Luber family from Milwaukee. The Lubers have a long connection with Door County, and were introduced to the Conservancy by their friend and former Wisconsin board member Mike Borden. When the family decided it was time to secure the future of the island, they contacted The Nature Conservancy.

By selling the island to the Conservancy for $1.5 million, a price substantially below fair market value, and with generous payment terms, the Lubers are making a gift of more than 60 percent of the land’s value, or $2.85 million. Their vision and generosity are making it possible for us to bring lasting protection to this special place. We’re thrilled with their gift and this opportunity.

4) Did The Nature Conservancy buy the whole island?

The Conservancy bought 1,243.56 acres, or 94 percent of the island, from the Luber family. The rest is owned by another private landowner and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, both of whom we have contacted about conservation on the island.

5) Where did/will the funding come from to purchase the island?

We have set a goal to raise $2 million in public and private funds for this project. A portion of that will go toward purchasing St. Martin Island, and the rest will be used to continue our conservation work on the Door Peninsula and in the Green Bay watershed and the Great Lakes.

In addition to private donations, we are also applying for a grant from the North American Wetlands Conservation Act program and the USFWS is applying for a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant to help fund this project.

6) Is The Nature Conservancy planning to keep the island?

No, we are planning to transfer it to the FWS to add to the Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This is a great opportunity for the Conservancy to work with the agency to expand the refuge for migratory birds and other wildlife. The FWS has staff committed to managing the refuge, which extends across Wisconsin and Michigan, and they have extensive experience managing these island habitats.

7) I understand there’s a lighthouse on the island. Who owns it? Is it still operational?

The lighthouse and associated buildings are on land owned by the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. The light is still operational for navigation purposes and has been automated since 1980.

8) What’s the island’s history in terms of land use? Did American Indians live there? Was it ever settled or developed? Was it logged? Was it farmed? Was it used for commercial fishing?

St. Martin Island has an interesting human history. Native Americans used the island, but we don’t know much about their history there. When Father Marquette and Louis Joliet visited the area in the late 1600s, they are recorded as having seen small bands of Native Americans fishing for whitefish on St. Martin and the other islands in the area. In the mid-1800s, families from New York, Ohio and other eastern states moved to St. Martin to live year round. They made their living fishing for whitefish, lake trout, sturgeon and lake herring, which they salted and shipped to Chicago, Milwaukee and other cities. They planted subsistence gardens, raised a few head of cattle and cut trees to make cabins, barrels for shipping fish and other tools and buildings, but no large-scale farming or logging took place on the island as far as we know. A school and cemetery were eventually established on the island. At its peak in the 1870s, the population of St. Martin Island was estimated by one census to be about 102 people. The fish populations eventually declined and people left the island. In 1889, the island was officially declared vacated by the prosecuting attorney of Delta County, Michigan.

9) Is the Conservancy transferring any other islands to the USFWS along with St. Martin Island?

Yes, the Conservancy will also transfer Rocky Island to the USFWS when we transfer St. Martin Island. Rocky Island is a 10-acre island located approximately 2 miles off the Garden Peninsula (from Fairport) in close proximity to Little Summer Island. It was donated to the Conservancy in 1986. The island provides nesting habitat for gulls, terns and other water birds, stopover habitat for migratory bird species and nursery and spawning areas for native migrating fish species.