Guide to Significant Wildlife Habitat - Door County Web Map

Kangaroo Lake State Natural Area
Description: Kangaroo Lake lies in a basin ½ mile from the Lake Michigan coast. The natural area site
of about 357-acres contains a mosaic of communities including a shallow, marl-bottom lake, northern
upland forest, northern wet-mesic forest and marsh. While marl lakes are relatively common throughout
Door County, undeveloped ones such as Kangaroo Lake are exceptionally rare. The lake’s source is the
spring-fed Piel Creek, which originates from a series of small springs in an unusual marl fen 5 miles
upstream. Piel Creek and the surrounding wetlands provide critical habitat for the federally endangered
Hine’s emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora hineana) and is one of only two known reproducing populations
in the country. Lowland forest of white cedar, black ash, tamarack, black spruce, and balsam fir surround
the north end of the lake, which is ringed by floating sedge mats. Characteristic shrubs include speckled
alder, willows, and meadowsweet. Canada yew, a declining Wisconsin species, is found along a
peninsula of the north basin. Common herbs are three-leaved gold-thread, dewberry, naked miterwort,
and American starflower. A dolostone plateau with numerous crevices and areas of exposed bedrock
contains a forest dominated by sugar maple, beech, white birch, and red oak with a rich diversity of spring
wildflowers. Numerous other rare and endangered species are present including the state and federally
threatened dwarf lake iris (Iris lacustris), the dorcas copper butterfly (Lycaena dorcas), Bald Eagle,
Osprey, and Caspian Tern. The marsh also provides important breeding and migratory habitat for Black
Terns, Sandhill Cranes, and many species of waterfowl. A causeway built in the late 1800’s separates
Kangaroo Lake into two distinct parts – a highly developed southern portion and the northern end, which
has almost completely escaped development due to the extensive wetlands. Kangaroo Lake is owned by
The Nature Conservancy and the Door County Land Trust and was designated a State Natural Area in
2002.
Access: From the intersection of Highways 57 and F in Baileys Harbor, go south on State Highway 57
1.4 miles, then west on County Highway E 1 mile to a small parking area north of the road. To access the
western part, continue west and north on Highway E an additional 1.2 miles. Park along the road. A trail
leads east into the site. The wetlands are best viewed by canoe. Put in at the east end of the Highway E
causeway.
White Cliff Fen and Forest State Natural Area
Description: Located less than ½ mile from Green Bay, White Cliff Fen and Forest features a deep,
undisturbed forest containing 57-acres of white cedar and hardwoods surrounding a calcareous fen
situated at the base of the Niagara escarpment. The fen is fed by ground water upwellings rich in calcium
and magnesium bicarbonates and is dominated by woolly-fruit sedge and hard-stem bulrush. Other plant
species include such fen indicators as brook lobelia, boneset, marsh fern, and common bog-arrow grass
(Triglochin maritima) – a rare species despite its name. Other plants are marsh marigold, small-flowered
false foxglove, northern bog goldenrod, and northern bog aster. Marsh milkweed is plentiful throughout
the wetland and attracts numerous nectaring butterflies including a large number of monarchs. Limestone
bedrock is exposed in areas of the fen, an indicator of a very shallow peat layer. An irregular, narrow
border of shrubby cinquefoil, small white cedar, red-osier dogwood, alder-leaf buckthorn, and tamarack
rings the fen. The area slowly grades into a white cedar and green ash woodland and then into an upland
forest of white cedar, hemlock, red oak, big-tooth aspen, and white ash. Other trees include paper birch,
beech, sugar maple, white pine, white spruce, and red pine. Although rare plant and animal surveys are
pending, the surrounding area contains three rare land snails, and the Hine’s Emerald dragonfly
(Somatochlora hineana), a federally endangered species. Future inventories may reveal the presence of
these and other rare species at this site. White Cliff Fen and Forest is owned by the Door County Land
Trust and was designated a State Natural Area in 2002.
Appendix D – Natural Areas: A Definition &Status Report 191