Guide to Significant Wildlife Habitat - Door County Web Map
Guide to Significant Wildlife Habitat - Door County Web Map
Guide to Significant Wildlife Habitat - Door County Web Map
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NOTEWORTHY CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL FEATURES:<br />
Ephraim was first inhabited by Native Americans, then later by Europeans from Norway. It<br />
became the first platted village in <strong>Door</strong> <strong>County</strong>. It also had the first public school in the county and the<br />
first church, a Moravian congregation begun in 1853 (Holand 1917).<br />
North Bay was yet another of the early 1870’s settlements built around a lumber shipping pier. It<br />
is one of the two largest harbors along the eastern shore of the Peninsula and has been known for many<br />
years by sailors as a refuge in a s<strong>to</strong>rm.<br />
The Marshall family moved <strong>to</strong> the area now called Marshall’s Point in 1868. Mary Marshall was<br />
the daughter of Increase and Mary Claflin, acknowledged as the first white settlers in the county. The<br />
unique boreal forest and wilderness setting of Marshall’s Point were fac<strong>to</strong>rs that led <strong>to</strong> its becoming a<br />
State Natural Area.<br />
SITE FEATURES:<br />
Ephraim Swamp<br />
Ephraim Swamp begins along the shoreline of Eagle Harbor and follows a corridor southeastward<br />
<strong>to</strong> the Town of Baileys Harbor. Two small creeks, Hidden Spring Creek and Ephraim Creek, are located<br />
in this area. Hidden Spring Creek originates in Ephraim Swamp. Ephraim Creek originates south of<br />
Hidden Spring Creek in a similar habitat. Overlooking the swamp <strong>to</strong> the west is a wooded section of the<br />
Niagara Escarpment.<br />
• Ephraim Swamp is in the Town of Gibraltar. The <strong>to</strong>wn has adopted the county’s zoning ordinance.<br />
Land use is mainly cropland with lesser amounts of woodlots, recreational public, transportation, idle<br />
farmland, and other natural areas.<br />
• Soils are shallow <strong>to</strong> deep, well drained, and moderately steep. A sandy loam or loam subsoil covers<br />
sandy loam or fine sandy loam till or dolos<strong>to</strong>ne bedrock (USDA SCS 1978).<br />
• Hidden Spring Creek is 1 mile long and 2 feet wide; it has a gradient of 10 feet per mile and is<br />
classified as a Class I trout stream for 0.5 miles. Ephraim Creek is 1 mile long and 9 feet wide and<br />
has a gradient of 15 feet per mile. It has a good habitat ranking and is also classified as a Class I and<br />
II trout stream (Corbisier 2000).<br />
• Vegetation consists of lowland swamp species such as black spruce (Picea mariana), tamarack (Larix<br />
laricina), and white cedar (Thuja occidentalis). Upland hardwood portions contain maple (Acer<br />
spp.), hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), and yellow birch (Betula allgheniensis).<br />
• Hidden Spring Creek is his<strong>to</strong>rically known <strong>to</strong> have white suckers (Ca<strong>to</strong>s<strong>to</strong>mus commersoni) and<br />
brook trout. However, there is little new information <strong>to</strong> support the presence of brook trout. Ephraim<br />
Creek could attract spring runs of smelt (Osmerus mordax), suckers, and occasionally rainbow trout<br />
(Oncorhynchus mykiss) (Corbisier 2000).<br />
• It is unknown if any threatened or endangered plant or animal species are present, as biological<br />
inven<strong>to</strong>ries have not been completed.<br />
Baileys Harbor Forest Corridor<br />
This portion is located from the <strong>to</strong>wn line of Baileys Harbor southeast <strong>to</strong> the shoreline of Lake<br />
Michigan. There are 2 creeks that flow east in<strong>to</strong> this swamp. Hidden Brook Creek follows a ridge and<br />
swale system. An unnamed stream originates in the corridor and flows east in<strong>to</strong> Mud Lake.<br />
110<br />
Ephraim / Baileys Harbor Forest Corridor & North Bay Lowlands