Guide to Significant Wildlife Habitat - Door County Web Map

HUNGRY SETTLEMENT MARSH
LOCATION:
Hungry Settlement Marsh encompasses approximately 375 acres located south of Sturgeon Bay
in east central Door County (T26N, R25E) in the Town of Nasewaupee. As this report represents general
areas of concern, exact locations of boundary lines have not been designated.
GENERAL SITE DESCRIPTION:
Hungry Settlement Marsh lies adjacent to the Ahnapee State Trail. The site contains an acid bog,
a vegetation type that is rare in this area. Because current property owners are amenable to protection
there is currently minimal threat to the marsh at this writing.
The Town of Nasewaupee does not currently utilize land use regulation or zoning, except for
state-mandated zoning of shorelines and navigable streams. However, a planning initiative started in the
summer of 1997 has spawned numerous public meetings, surveys, informational forums and professional
land use planning services that are being used to develop a comprehensive land use plan. Considerable
information has been gathered, all leading toward a land use framework that reflects the public’s wishes
and intentions. Many community members are volunteering substantial time and energy at various levels
to develop the town’s comprehensive land use plan, which is scheduled for completion in the summer of
2003.
ECOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
This large wetland complex contains areas of bog, alder thicket, and tamarack swamp and is
mostly surrounded with upland forest. The bog community found here comprises only a portion of the site
but represents the key ecological feature of the site. The bog holds well developed sphagnum hummocks,
and typical bog species like bog laurel, leatherleaf and bog rosemary. This unusual occurrence appears
stable, free of aggressive non-native species, well buffered by surrounding forest and wetland
communities with little evidence of human disturbance.
The Hungry Settlement Marsh contributes water to Stony Creek via a small tributary. Wetlands
of this type are very rare in Door County. Bogs of this nature are more common in the northern sandy
regions of Wisconsin. This is one of the few environments in the county where the bog laurel grows in
great quantity and other plants typical of bogs are also found here. Alder thicket, open bog and shrub carr
are three natural community types found within the marsh. (Refer to Appendix C for a more detailed
description of these natural community types).
NOTEWORTHY CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL FEATURES:
This is an area of the town of Nasewaupee that has large wetland parcels intermingled with higher
lands more suited for farming. However, it has historically been a marginal farming region in comparison
with other parts of the Town, resulting in references being made through the years to the “Hungry
Settlement”.
The present Ahnapee Recreational Trail utilizes the former Ahnapee and Western Railroad rightof-way.
The marsh was centered in the chosen route for the railroad and proved to be a challenge for its
entire life, with this section of the railway finally being stabilized after many years of annual rebuilding
and costly fill with any material available. The impact to the marsh could have been avoided had the
route of the railroad been moved only a half mile south.
Hungry Settlement Marsh 57