Guide to Significant Wildlife Habitat - Door County Web Map

• Expand designated State Natural Areas (Coffee Swamp & Jackson Harbor Ridges) to include other
natural communities of ecological quality.
• Consider additional sites of ecological significance among the Grand Traverse Islands for designation
as State Natural Areas.
• Create a comprehensive ecological management plan to protect the diverse number of natural
communities and rare plant and animal species representative of the Grand Traverse Islands habitat.
THREATS:
• On Plum and Detroit Islands, timber harvest, reforestation and timber stand improvement measures
were undertaken with DNR forestry guidance in the mid-1980’s.
• High deer populations following forest management practices negatively impacted regeneration.
• Washington Island faces development pressures throughout the island. In Coffee Swamp, deer
herbivory and the invasion of glossy buckthorn threaten understory plants.
• Rock Island is threatened by deer herbivory, invasion of garlic mustard, and human visitors to beach
and dune communities (Judziewicz and Kopitzke 1999).
• The smaller bird islands have been completely dominated by colonial waterbirds. Native vegetation
and animal life has been replaced with breeding cormorants and gulls (Judziewicz and Kopitzke
1999).
INFORMATION NEEDS / GAPS:
• Inventory of plant and animal species on some of the smaller islands
• Develop list of individuals and supportive groups interested in land conservation activities
Grand Traverse Islands 143