Guide to Significant Wildlife Habitat - Door County Web Map

SITE FEATURES:
Ahnapee River Corridor
The portion of the Ahnapee River within Door County is 8.5 miles in length and averages 25 feet
in width, with a low gradient of 7.7 feet per mile. The headwaters of the Ahnapee lie north of Highway 42
near Tornado Memorial County Park. A major tributary, Silver Creek, joins the Ahnapee just south of the
highway. The river eventually empties into Lake Michigan within the City of Algoma.
• The Town of Brussels recently adopted a town-zoning ordinance and in 2002 was in the public
hearing phase for implementing a comprehensive land use plan. The plan is expected to be complete
early in 2003. The Town of Forestville has not adopted a county or town-zoning ordinance although
numerous discussions regarding ordinances have taken place over the past few years.
• In the Town of Brussels land use surrounding the Ahnapee River Corridor is predominantly woodland
with lesser amounts of cropland, idle farmland, natural lands, recreational area, and residential lots.
In the Town of Forestville land use near the river corridor consists of cropland with lesser amounts of
idle farmland, recreational public, and non-farm residential.
• Soils are deep, well drained to poorly drained, and level to sloping. Loamy sand to silt loam subsoil
overlays sandy loam or loam till (USDA SCS 1978).
• A county dam impounds the river in Forestville forming the Forestville Millpond. The river is
adversely impacted by non-point source pollution from local agriculture practices and overall, the
river receives only a fair quality ranking. The Ahnapee River is listed for PCB contamination, and as
recently as 2000 there was an advisory on smallmouth bass and carp consumption (Corbisier 2000).
• Pre-settlement vegetation of the Ahnapee River Corridor was predominantly of two types; upland
areas dominated by a northern mesic forest composed of maple (Acer spp.), hemlock (Tsuga
canadensis), and yellow birch (Betula allgheniensis); and lowland forests dominated by swamps of
black spruce (Picea mariana), tamarack (Larix laricina), and cedar (Thuja occidentalis) (Finley
1976).
• Trout and salmon are stocked annually, and the river sustains annual fish runs in spring and fall below
the dam (Corbisier 2000).
• Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), a fish-eating raptor, is a state-threatened species known to use this
stream corridor.
CONSERVATION GOALS:
• Maintain ecological integrity of the Ahnapee Rive Corridor, including associated upland forest habitat
and wetlands.
• Enhance and protect the water quality of river and its tributaries.
• Maintain large blocks of undisturbed habitat to promote natural interactions among plant and animal
communities.
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Ahnapee River Corridor