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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diverse fishery and benthic community (Fassbender 2000). Smallmouth bass and yellow perch are<br />
common fish in the harbor.<br />
• Figenscaus Harbor (sometimes referred <strong>to</strong> as Figenscaus Bay) is located on the southwest corner of<br />
Washing<strong>to</strong>n Island. It has approximately 100 acres of water area lying below the normal high water<br />
mark of Lake Michigan. This harbor also has a diverse community of native aquatic plants, and is<br />
also being studied as a possible state natural area. Known plants include flat-stemmed pondweed,<br />
milfoil, Richardson pondweed, wild celery, Illinois pondweed, chara, and coontail. Curly leafed<br />
pondweed (Potamoge<strong>to</strong>n crispus) an invasive exotic is also present. The aquatic plants support a<br />
diverse fishery and benthic community. This area is also used heavily by migrating waterfowl<br />
(Fassbender 2000).<br />
• Washing<strong>to</strong>n Harbor is located in the northwest section of Washing<strong>to</strong>n Island. This north facing bay is<br />
located between Boyer Bluff <strong>to</strong> the west and Coffee Swamp <strong>to</strong> the east. Various archaeological sites<br />
are located near Washing<strong>to</strong>n Harbor. A his<strong>to</strong>rical site is found on the southeast shoreline. The<br />
dominant fish of this harbor is smallmouth bass. Other fish include yellow perch, northern pike, and<br />
Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha).<br />
• Facing Rock Island State Park is Jackson Harbor. It has approximately 100 acres of water area lying<br />
below the normal high water mark of Lake Michigan. Like West Harbor and Figenscaus Harbor,<br />
Jackson Harbor houses a highly diverse population of native aquatic plants and is being looked at by<br />
the WDNR for state natural area designation. Known plants include flat stemmed pondweed, milfoil,<br />
Richardson pondweed, wild celery, sago pondweed (Potamoge<strong>to</strong>n pectinatus), largeleaf pondweed<br />
(Potamoge<strong>to</strong>n amplifolius), elodea (Elodea canadensis), and small pondweed (Potamoge<strong>to</strong>n pusillus).<br />
Curly leafed pondweed (Potamoge<strong>to</strong>n crispus) and Eurasian water milfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum),<br />
invasive exotics are also present. A diverse fishery and benthic community seems <strong>to</strong> thrive because<br />
of the aquatic plants. Waterfowl also use this harbor during migration (Fassbender 2000). Most of<br />
the eastern shoreline is sand beach and wetlands. Helping <strong>to</strong> preserve the beach, dunes, swales, and<br />
rare plants is the designation, Jackson Harbor Ridges State Natural Area. The bay is a spawning<br />
habitat for smallmouth bass, northern pike, and yellow perch (Corbisier 2000).<br />
• Little Lake is located in the northwest section of Washing<strong>to</strong>n Island. The lake is 23.6 acres and has a<br />
maximum depth of seven feet. This landlocked lake may have been created from a shallow bay of the<br />
glacial Lake Nipping stage. A 250-foot cobbles<strong>to</strong>ne ridge separates Little Lake from Lake Michigan<br />
(Kasprzak and Walter 2001). A small museum and dock serve as a public access point at the<br />
southwest portion of the lake. Older stands of white cedar and hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) surround<br />
the north side of the lake, while the remaining portion is surrounded with various types of wooded<br />
vegetation. A floating bog mat is located in the northeast section of Little Lake.<br />
• Animals associated with Little Lake are blue-spotted salamanders (Ambys<strong>to</strong>ma laterale), several<br />
species of frogs, and breeding waterfowl. Songbirds are common residents during the spring and<br />
summer months on Washing<strong>to</strong>n Island.<br />
• Rare boreal rich fen plants of Washing<strong>to</strong>n Island wetlands include slim-stem small-reedgrass<br />
(Calamagrostis stricta), low calamint (Calamintha arkansana), northern bog sedge (Carex<br />
gynocrates), livid sedge (Carex livida var radicaulis), showy lady’s-slipper (Cypripedium reginae),<br />
tufted hairgrass (Deschampsia cespi<strong>to</strong>sa), few-flower spikerush (Eleocharis quinqueflora), and<br />
thickspike (Elymus lanceolatus spp. psmmophilus). Rare emergent aquatic plants include variegated<br />
horsetail (Equisetum variegatum), seaside spurge (Euphorbia polygonifolia), and lesser fringed<br />
gentian (Gentianopsis procera). One rare Great Lakes beach plant, the American sea-rocket (Cakile<br />
Grand Traverse Islands 131