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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DELWICHE – SAND HILL PINERIES<br />
& FABRY CREEK COMPLEX<br />
LOCATION:<br />
Delwiche-Sand Hill Pineries & Fabry Creek Complex covers approximately 930 acres in<br />
southwestern <strong>Door</strong> <strong>County</strong> (T25N, R23E) in the Town of Union. As this report represents general areas<br />
of concern, exact locations of boundary lines have not been designated.<br />
GENERAL SITE DESCRIPTION:<br />
The forest cover of this site ranges from dry xeric on <strong>to</strong>p of the escarpment <strong>to</strong> wet-mesic across the<br />
west-facing slope near Highway 57. This area is known for its large diameter native red pine (Pinus<br />
resinosa) and white pine (Pinus strobs) trees. Fabry Creek, a 3.7-mile long stream runs through this<br />
complex. The western edge of the Niagara Escarpment can be seen as ridges or small bluffs in the<br />
interior portion of the Pinery. A major wildlife corridor runs north and south paralleling the edge of the<br />
wooded bluff (Lukes 2001).<br />
The Union community has been working <strong>to</strong> develop a local zoning ordinance. The <strong>to</strong>wn board has<br />
been gathering information, conducting community surveys and holding public meetings <strong>to</strong> help define a<br />
workable ordinance. Adoption of an ordinance is anticipated in 2003. State-mandated zoning applies <strong>to</strong><br />
land use along shorelines and navigable streams.<br />
ECOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE:<br />
Several features of the Delwiche-Sand Hill Pineries & Fabry Creek Complex make this area<br />
ecologically significant, including the presence of dry xeric forests (which are relatively uncommon in<br />
<strong>Door</strong> <strong>County</strong>), large diameter native red pine and white pine, the Niagara Escarpment, and Fabry Creek.<br />
The south forty of Delwiche Woods contains one of the most pristine stands of native trees and shrubs in<br />
eastern Wisconsin (Lukes 2001).<br />
The pinery thrives along the <strong>to</strong>p western edge of the Niagara Escarpment with stands of<br />
predominantly white pines and red pines of at least 100 years old. This parcel has been enrolled in the<br />
Managed Forest Law Program since the mid 1990's and only recently has timber been selectively<br />
harvested. As far as the owners can tell, up until this time, the forest has not been logged since the<br />
Peshtigo Fire of Oc<strong>to</strong>ber 1871. The pinery remains a good example of uninterrupted succession over<br />
the past 125 years.<br />
NOTEWORTHY CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL FEATURES:<br />
Belgian immigrants were attracted <strong>to</strong> this area of the county between 1853 and 1857 from their<br />
homes, primarily in the south central provinces of Brabant, Hanant and Namur. Extensive mixed forests<br />
provided logs for the first structures erected by the Belgians. Few of these buildings exist <strong>to</strong>day. Most<br />
were leveled in early Oc<strong>to</strong>ber 1871 by extensive and intense fires (exactly contemporaneous with, but<br />
unrelated <strong>to</strong>, the Great Chicago Fire), which destroyed buildings, crops, lives<strong>to</strong>ck, timber and <strong>to</strong>ok more<br />
than 200 lives. The fire partially cleared thousands of acres, and land was thus more readily available for<br />
farming (Laatsch and Calkins 1992).<br />
SITE FEATURES:<br />
Delwiche – Sand Hill Pineries Area<br />
• The complex is predominantly natural forest area, intermixed with cropland, pasture and selectively<br />
logged woodlots.<br />
Delwiche - Sand Hill Pineries & Fabry Creek Complex 33