Guide to Significant Wildlife Habitat - Door County Web Map

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Coffee Swamp State Natural Area
Description: Coffee Swamp consist of about 80-acres and occupies a former embayment of Lake
Michigan along the northern coast of Washington Island. The natural area features a shallow, hard water
seepage pond with a substrate of pure marl that nearly dries up in late summer and during years when the
water level of Lake Michigan is low. Surrounding the pond is an open, treeless, boreal-rich fen dominated
by wire-leaved sedges, sweet gale, and hoary willow. Boreal-rich fens are similar to their southern
Wisconsin counterparts in having alkaline, saturated, peaty soils. They differ compositionally by having
species more typical of nutrient poor northern wetlands such as round-leaved sundew, pitcher plant,
cotton-grass, bog-rosemary, Labrador-tea, and bogbean. The fen also supports many rare plants,
including tussock bulrush (Scirpus cespitosus), and false asphodel (Tofielda glutinosa). Adjoining the fen
is a northern wet-mesic forest dominated by white cedar situated on peat over gravel and sand ridges.
Deer browse is heavy and some areas are lacking in cedar reproduction. Coffee Swamp is owned by the
DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 1994.
Access: The natural area is not accessible to the public at this time. Contact the State Natural Areas
Program for more information about visiting this site.
Baileys Harbor Boreal Forest & Wetlands State Natural Area
Description: Baileys Harbor Boreal Forest and wetlands consist of 329-acres along the northeastern coast
of the Door Peninsula. Lake Michigan heavily influences the local climate of the forest area. Cooler
springs and summers, warmer falls and winters, and reduced evaporation rates have allowed northern
species and this boreal forest to thrive here, far south of their normal range. Balsam fir and white spruce
dominate the boreal forest, which grades into northern wet-mesic forest of white cedar, white pine, paper
birch, and hemlock. Many orchids and rare plants find refuge in the forest, including the federally
threatened dwarf lake iris (Iris lacustris). The natural area protects 1.5 miles of undeveloped Lake
Michigan shoreline. An extensive alkaline rockshore, or bedrock beach, is exposed during periods of low
lake levels. Bird’s-eye primrose (Primula mistanssinica), small fringed gentian (Gentianopsis procera),
and tufted hair grass (Deschampsia cespitosa) are among the uncommon species thriving on the open
dolostone flats. Migratory shorebirds and waterfowl are attracted to the undeveloped shoreline, and this
site is one of the few known nesting sites in Wisconsin for the Common Goldeneye. The forested
communities support a wide variety of birds associated with boreal habitats, including Yellow-bellied
Flycatcher, Blackburnian Warbler, and Merlin. Baileys Harbor Boreal Forest and Wetlands is owned by
the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 1995.
Access: From the intersection of State Highway 57 and County Highway Q north of Baileys Harbor, go
northeast on Q 3.5 miles to Cana Island Road, then go south (right) 0.1 mile. Park along the road at the T
intersection where Cana Island Road splits to form a triangle. Walk south along Cana Island Road 0.3
miles, then east into the natural area. Look for SNA signs marking the site’s boundary.
Appendix D – Natural Areas: A Definition &Status Report