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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(Aronia melanocarpa), motherwort (Chaiturus marrubiastrum), and catnip (Nepeta cataria)<br />
(Judziewicz and Kopitzke 1999).<br />
• Nesting colonies of Herring Gulls (500 pair) and Cormorants (200 pair) make up the bulk of the<br />
fauna. Other probable nesters include Great Blue Herons and Red-breasted Mergansers (Mergus<br />
serra<strong>to</strong>r).<br />
• Rare species have not been documented on Pilot Island.<br />
• The aesthetic value of Pilot Island is that it is predominantly absent of human presence, a rare<br />
occurrence for most islands.<br />
Plum Island<br />
Plum Island, named because it is plumb in the center of Deaths <strong>Door</strong> (Holand 1917), is<br />
approximately 267 acres in size and has a maximum elevation of 13 meters. The island is mostly<br />
forested, and U.S. Coast Guard facilities are present on the northeast and southwest shores. The shoreline<br />
has 2-3 meter cliffs along the eastern shore, gravel beach on the south and west sides, and a narrow sandy<br />
beach on the north side (Judziewicz and Kopitzke, 1999). The US Coast Guard currently owns Plum<br />
Island. However, the Coast Guard has determined that Plum Island is surplus property, and the process <strong>to</strong><br />
transfer ownership <strong>to</strong> another entity is in progress.<br />
• The U.S. Coast Guard controls land use, therefore casual visits <strong>to</strong> the island are not permitted.<br />
• Soils are shallow <strong>to</strong> deep, well drained, and almost level <strong>to</strong> moderately steep. A sandy loam or loam<br />
subsoil overlays sandy loam or fine sandy loam till or dolos<strong>to</strong>ne bedrock (USDA SCS 1978).<br />
• A small wetland locally known as Carp Lake on the northeast tip of the island has unique<br />
physiographic features. It is recurrently connected and separated from Lake Michigan.<br />
• Forest communities are diverse. Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and basswood (Tilia americana)<br />
forests dominate the interior. White cedar is prevalent along coastal areas especially where dolos<strong>to</strong>ne<br />
is near the surface. A heavy select cut opened the canopy <strong>to</strong> red raspberry and common hound’s<strong>to</strong>ngue<br />
(Cynoglossum officinale). The east and south coast have white cedar along dolos<strong>to</strong>ne bluffs.<br />
One-flowered cancer-root (Orobanche uniflora) and climbing fumi<strong>to</strong>ry (Adlumia fungosa) are<br />
common unders<strong>to</strong>ry plants. In sand dominated areas dune goldenrod (Solidago simplex, var.<br />
gillmanii) is abundant.<br />
• Near Carp Lake on the northwest section of the island plant species are diverse. During a 1999<br />
survey when Lake Michigan was low, a meadow near the lagoon was dominated by brook lobelia<br />
(Lobelia kalmii), rushes (Juncus spp.), and St. John’s-wort (Hypericum spp.). Southwest of the<br />
lagoon is a 10-acre sedge meadow. Dominant plant species include bluejoint (Calamagrostis<br />
canadensis) and tussock sedge (Carex stricta). In a strip of disturbed boreal forest near the Coast<br />
Guard Station dwarf lake iris (Iris lacustris), alvar violet (Viola nephrophylla), and white camass<br />
(Zigadenus elegans) are present (Judziewicz and Kopitzke 1999).<br />
• Animals present on the island include nesting Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and whitetailed<br />
deer (Odocoileus virginanus). Pigs (Suscrofa domesticus) were introduced sometime before<br />
1998 (Judziewicz and Kopitzke 1999), but they are no longer present. In Carp Lake, carp (Cyprinus<br />
carpio) are seasonally abundant.<br />
Grand Traverse Islands 129