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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Protection is accomplished using a variety of <strong>to</strong>ols, including fee acquisition, donations, and<br />
conservation easements. Sites on state-owned lands, especially parks, forests, and fish and wildlife areas,<br />
can simply be designated as State Natural Areas by cooperative agreements and management plans<br />
between the NAP and the coopera<strong>to</strong>r. Similarly, areas controlled by universities, federal agencies, and<br />
private groups, such as The Nature Conservancy, are brought in<strong>to</strong> the natural areas system by a<br />
"memorandum of understanding" — a long-term, but not legally-binding, commitment <strong>to</strong> maintain the<br />
sites as natural areas. Sites not owned by the state are purchased from willing sellers using funds from<br />
the Stewardship Program. Established in 1989, the program provides money for state land acquisition,<br />
including $1.5 million a year for natural area projects. An additional $500,000 a year from Stewardship<br />
supplements the Natural [Heritage] Area Match Grant Program, which matches, dollar-for-dollar, private<br />
donations of land or funds <strong>to</strong> the Natural Areas Program. In addition <strong>to</strong> donations and outright fee<br />
acquisition, the NAP also purchases conservation easements on natural lands. Once secured by purchase<br />
or agreement, sites are formally "designated" as State Natural Areas, becoming part of the natural area<br />
system. Designation confers a significant level of protection as guaranteed by DNR Administrative Rules,<br />
Management Plans, and Memoranda of Understanding, in compliance with state statutes.<br />
A higher level of protection is accomplished by Articles of Dedication, a kind of conservation<br />
easement, which provides the strongest long-term legal protection for land in the state. Legally<br />
"dedicated" sites are protected in perpetuity for natural area use and may not be taken for other functions<br />
without a finding of urgent and greater public need by the governor and the legislature.<br />
As of September 2002, 353 sites covering more than 125,000 acres have been designated as State<br />
Natural Areas. In addition <strong>to</strong> protecting biotic communities, these areas provide refuge for many species<br />
of plants and animals on Wisconsin's Endangered and Threatened Species List.<br />
Management<br />
Management of State Natural Areas is based on specific plans agreed <strong>to</strong> by the land managing<br />
agency. In most instances, the best management for natural areas is <strong>to</strong> do nothing except protect them<br />
from human disturbance. For many sites, however, invasive exotic species and encroaching woody plants<br />
are a real problem, requiring hands-on management. Prescribed burning and removal of trees and shrubs<br />
are used as management <strong>to</strong>ols on prairies, fens, savannas, and sedge meadows. Whether managing natural<br />
areas or the person using them, much of the work is made possible through donations <strong>to</strong> the Endangered<br />
Resources Fund. The fund was established in 1984 as a means for direct public support of endangered<br />
resources protection projects, including management of designated natural areas.<br />
Research and Educational Use<br />
Natural areas serve as excellent outdoor labora<strong>to</strong>ries for research on biotic communities and the<br />
species that comprise them. A permit is required <strong>to</strong> conduct formal research on State Natural Areas, and<br />
each year dozens of researchers undertake projects on these sites. When granting a permit, the ability of<br />
the area <strong>to</strong> <strong>to</strong>lerate such use without deterioration must be considered. Natural areas maintained with<br />
minimal human disturbance provide an unusual and valuable standard, or "benchmark," for determining<br />
impact of use on managed lands. A baseline data acquisition project, which gathers basic plant and animal<br />
information necessary <strong>to</strong> establish these benchmarks, is an integral part of the NAP.<br />
When combined with the state's wealth of rivers and lakes, including Lake Superior and Lake<br />
Michigan, the resulting range of habitat conditions is capable of supporting a wide array of plant and<br />
animal life. This is suggested by the abundance of natural community types that ecologists have<br />
identified here in <strong>Door</strong> <strong>County</strong>. Thirty-seven (37) natural communities have been cross-referenced with<br />
the seventeen (17) habitat areas described in this document, see table Appendix “A”.<br />
Appendix D – Natural Areas: A Definition &Status Report 181