Guide to Significant Wildlife Habitat - Door County Web Map

EUROPE LAKE FOREST AREA
LOCATION:
The Europe Lake Forest Area is composed of approximately 1700 acres located immediately
north of Europe Lake in the northern most portion of Door County, in the Town of Liberty Grove (T32N,
R28E). As this report represents general areas of concern, exact locations of boundary lines have not
been designated.
GENERAL SITE DESCRIPTION:
The Europe Lake Forest Area is an extensive forested landscape at the northern most point of the
Door Peninsula. Included in this natural area are Europe Lake, Wisconsin Bay, and Table Bluff. Europe
Lake is separated from the Lake Michigan shoreline by a dolostone ledge and sand dune topography
(Watermolen and Bougie 1995). Newport State Park adjoins the southern boundary of the forest area and
Europe Lake. The lake, once a bay of Lake Michigan, was created by wave action forming a sand and
gravel bar across the mouth of the embayment (Merryfield 2000).
ECOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
Northern mesic forest dominates the area, and sections east of Europe Lake support what appear
as good representations of “boreal” forest. Near the shoreline are dolostone outcrops of the Niagara
Escarpment and sand dunes created by wave action of Lake Michigan.
The site holds a diverse array of forest, wetland, and shoreline habitats and its ecological
significance is enhanced by Newport State Park to the south, a portion of which is designated as Europe
Bay Woods State Natural Area. As the northern most series of Lake Michigan coastal landscapes, along
the Door Peninsula, the Europe Lake forest block represents the last migratory staging habitat for
northward migrating birds in the spring, before they begin their crossing of the Grand Traverse Islands
into northern Michigan. The landscape is equally important for birds migrating south from Michigan in
the fall. The mosaic of habitat types, especially the near shore forest, provides essential resources to these
migrants.
Exotic species do not appear to be prevalent in the area. Perhaps the most significant feature of
the site is the shoreline of Europe Lake. While cottages have been built on the lake, there are
opportunities to preserve portions of the shore. Protection of the remaining shoreline would compliment
the already protected portion of the lake in Newport State Park. The species composition is rich, and
partial inventories conducted in the area have documented twenty rare species of animals, invertebrates,
and plants. Four natural community types are found in the area. (See Appendices “A”, “B” and “C” for
specifics.)
NOTEWORTHY CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL FEATURES:
Early settlement of this area was like a roller coaster in the county’s history. First, the village of
Newport was created in the 1870’s, primarily to support the wood cutting business of a Dane named Hans
Johnson. He specialized in selling cordwood to fire kilns in Milwaukee, which had become well known
for their “Cream City” bricks. His enterprises built an entire village, including sawmill, pier, store, horse
barn, home and post office. Later, the area’s woodland was harvested for cedar juice used in making
furniture polish. The village became a ghost town at the turn of the century, but was revived for a brief
period by the Christmas tree business. Thousands of trees were shipped to larger cities around Lake
Michigan. The community was deserted once more around 1904 when the trees were gone (Lotz 1994).
In the decade of the 1920’s, a large area around Europe Lake became a kind of public park owned
by Ferdinand Hotz, a Chicago diamond broker. Hotz acquired 2200 acres and built a summer lodge. He
opened his land to visitors and late in the decade offered it to the State Conservation Commission to be
maintained as a wildlife refuge. The commission accepted the land and eventually it became Newport
State Park (Lotz 1994).
Europe Lake Forest Area 123