Guide to Significant Wildlife Habitat - Door County Web Map

– Foreword –
by Nina Leopold Bradley
The Highest and Best Uses of Land
History tells us that our native surroundings provide our
fundamental identity and sense of place. They provide the foothold
for understanding who we are as a people. Our natural heritage has
helped to shape our cultural heritage.
In Door County the splendor of its natural surrounding has
played an important role in shaping and nurturing community
values. Fifty years ago Aldo Leopold urged Americans to adopt a
more caring attitude toward the land. He wrote, “Quit thinking about
decent land use as solely an economic problem … examine each
question in terms of what is ethically and esthetically right, as well as
what is economically expedient.”
This guidebook on natural areas allows us to examine the
maps and descriptions of the uncommon natural wonders that are the
precious heritage of Door County. Leopold’s thoughts lead us to
think about what is esthetically right as well as economically
expedient. To achieve a balanced economy, in harmony with the
natural environment and its preservation, will require strong
leadership and a broad ethical vision.
It has been written that the future of our public lands will be determined by the strength of our
leadership on environmental issues. Our own Wisconsin environmental ecologists have articulated such
a commitment over the last century. From Sig Olson to Aldo Leopold to John Muir, we have abundant
inspiration to protect our wildest places, balancing the increasing demand for development.
Conservation, as Aldo Leopold understood it, is a matter not just of technical skills, but of social
development, which in turn is a matter of changing mores, customs, laws, incentives and community
standards.
As we care for this special part of
Wisconsin we may be able to implement an
elevation of community standards, a fresh
understanding of the dynamic interrelationship
between public and private interests, and
public and private lands.
Leopold wrote: “Now we face the
question whether a still higher standard of
living is worth its cost in things natural,
wild and free.”
– Foreward – 3