Imagine creating a 1000-acre Nature Preserve that will last forever...

Chambers Island

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Washington Is.Rock Is.

Sturgeon Bay

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Green Bay

Fish CreekMarinette

Sister Bay

Ellison Bay

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Chambers Island -- all 3000 largely undeveloped acres -- offers significant biological diversity valuable for preservation of the entire Great Lakes region.

Chambe rs Is l and has a lways meant f o r ests .Hidden from the shore and the beaches, there are thousands of woodland acres which have existed for millennia. Logging

roads wander through the towering hemlock, oak and maple trees

sheltering ferns, flowers and flickers.

The opportunity to preserve these forests is now before us. Development, zoning re-evaluation and subdivision could mean loss of a

pristine natural area if we fail to act.

Imagine if we could...

Chambers Island Nature Preserve

The most important step has already been taken. A group of landowners owning 1,000 acres of forest is ready to sell their property. But before they consider selling their land which could lead to subdivision and development, they are providing us with the opportunity to purchase their magnificent forestlands and establish a premier nature preserve.

We have an opportunity...If we move quickly, we can:

• Assemble a combination of funds from private donors, conservation organizations and government programs to purchase and save this extraordinary, fragile piece of nature.

• Develop a long-term sustainable forest management plan and identify an entity to oversee this plan into the future.

• Promote a better understanding of Chambers’ biodiversity and its role in the Great Lakes ecosystem.

Imagine if... Chambers Island continued to inspire all future islanders with its natural beauty and became a living laboratory for field studies on plants and animals, Great Lakes ecology and global environmental issues.

Working closely with Door County Land Trust and many other partnering agencies, academic institutions and conservation groups have convinced us this is all truly possible.

What makes Chambers’ nature special?460 trees (approximate),000Hemlock (including older second-growth forests), beech, sugar maple, red & white pine, birch, oak, cedar, basswood and others.

+2 acres of contiguous forest,000One of the largest remaining forested areas in Door County.

6 “SGCN” species breed on ChambersChambers provides breeding habitat for the wood thrush, red-headed woodpecker, yellow-billed cuckoo, bald eagle, least flycatcher, and American woodcock.

36 recorded butterfliesIncluding the threatened tawny crescent. Three sightings on Chambers confirmed by the Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA) project- out of only five total sightings in the U.S. since 2006.

1 “Special Concern” insect speciesChambers is home to large numbers of rhinoceros beetles, designated as “Special Concern” by the WI DNR.

27 bird species identified as “SGCN”Of the 27 “Species of Greatest Conservation Need” (based on Wisconsin’s Wildlife Action Plan), two are Endangered (peregrine falcon & caspian tern) and two are Threatened (red-shouldered hawk & great egret).

163 recorded bird speciesIncluding a nesting bald eagle community.

353 documented plant speciesFour species listed as “Wisconsin Special Concern Species”. Also the only leatherleaf-dominated muskeg community in the Grand Traverse Islands.

2 bat species identified by DNRThe little brown bat (classified as Threatened) and the hoary bat thrive on Chambers Island.

0 deerChambers is unique among large forested areas in Door County, with no deer for more then two decades, allowing abundant natural understory growth.

Did you know?Chambers Island is critically important to migrating birds as a resting and refueling stop-over and nesting habitat.

Chambers is also home to several endangered and threatened plants and animals.

Protect this forest and preserve a natural area for our children, for our environment, and for our

education... forever

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Lake Mackaysee & WetLands

A 347-acre shallow lake with two islands and wetlands containing diverse aquatic macrophyte flora and many fish species (large- and small-mouth bass, northern pike, yellow perch, bluegill and sturgeon). The wetlands provide a stop over habitat for migrating birds.

One of several wetlands on Chambers, along the west coast of Lake Mackaysee.

Just south of Lake Mackaysee.

This is the only muskeg (large raised bogs in wetlands) found on the islands of Green Bay and the Grand Traverse chain. Muskegs serve as important habitat for many landsnails, moths and butterflies, reptiles and amphibians, and birds.

A muskeg dominated with leatherleaf and containing pronounced hummocks and hollows. Home to a number of boreal bird and butterfly species.

Great Lakes beach coMMunities

Along the southern shoreline.

These communities include state special concern species American sea rocket (Cakile edentula) and seaside spurge (Euphorbia polygonifolia).

Abundant large patches of Sedum acre Linnaeus found on the South and Western shoreline.

Chambers’ southern beach with undisturbed dunes and minimal

human traffic.

ridGe & sWaLe coMMunities

North end west of Mackaysee Lake and north of Krause Lake.

Complex and diverse habitat for shoreline plants. Supports rich assemblages of amphibians, reptiles, and breeding and migratory birds.

archaeoLoGicaL findinGs

On and near shorelines.

Artifacts found include burial mounds, a 10,000-year-old harpoon made of mastodon bone and various artifacts dating from 1500-500 B.C.E.

LEGENdProposed Nature Preserve

Wetlands Private roads

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Town of Gibraltar public roads

Botany information from Judziewicz, E.J., The Michigan Botanist 2001.

A 3-year-old bald eagle flying over the south side shore.

4 active baLd eaGLe nests

Southwest and Lake Mackaysee shoreline.

6 oLd heMLock forest

Throughout the wooded areas.

Important nesting habitat for neo-tropical birds, especially the black-throated green warbler and the Blackburnian warbler.A black-throated green warbler

Lighthouse

East Dock(4 public slips)

Holy Name Retreat House

Krause Lake

Hanover Shoal

North Bay

Airs

trip Lake Mackaysee

Sand Point

reMnant Great Lakes barren coMMunities

Sand Point and North Bay.Location

SignificanceWith a prairie component, numerous bearberry (Arctostaphuylus uva-ursi), and abundant mating populations of rhinoceros beetle, these barren communities may be the best examples in the state.

A threatened tawney crescent butterfly perched on a Chambers flower.

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MuskeG W/ LeatherLeaf

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Caspian terns walking the south side beach

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Why we must act now

Door County FOrest COverAdapted from DNR's 1998 land cover data

Remaining forests Development

Adapted from: www.forestguild.org/ecological_forestry/Door_County_Comprehensive_Forestry_Plan

Chambers Island is one of the few remaining Door County areas with most of its forests still intact.• deveLopMent pressure. There

is growing development pressure on interior land. Already 1/3 of cottages are on interior land.

• LandoWner support. Present owners of large tracts of land in the proposed Nature Preserve have decades-long associations with Chambers Island and support the

proposal. This is less likely in the future as more and more people will own less and less land.

• ZoninG LaWs. Current zoning would allow up to 100 new cottages on proposed land for the Nature Preserve.

• LoW Land prices. Interior land prices are currently relatively low and certain to rise in the future.

Chambers landowners form the Chambers Island Association (CIA), successfully advocating zoning changes to protect the island from overdevelopment.

1962

EJ Judziewicz of the Wisconsin DNR conducts an ecological survey of Chambers, documenting 353 plant species, including 4 Wisconsin listed species of special concern and 11 other rare species.

1997-1999

The CIA forms the Land Preservation Committee (LPC).

2005

LPC raises funds for Door County Land Trust (DCLT)purchase of a 20-acre inland forest parcel for preservation.

2007

Ongoing effort to eliminate invasive species, including phragmites, garlic mustard, and gypsy moths.

2006-present

Bird banding by Chambers’ “citizen scientists”.

2009-present

Documentation of Chambers’ butterfly population.

2010-present

LPC leads successful island-wide effort to thwart zoning changes allowing more dense development.

2011

CIA votes to begin the Nature Preserve project, requiring an estimated $3-4 million.

2012

The Nature Preserve: A Long Tradition

In partnership with Door County Land Trust, grants submitted and appraisals ordered for several wetland tracts of land.

2013

2014-2018Nature Preserve implementation efforts begin in earnest.

The Chambers Island Nature PreserveFrom dream to reality, a sustainably managed forest promoting better understanding of a unique ecosystem and adding to the quality of life here on the island.

Past Present Future

2018-2020

The Chambers Island Nature PreserveLeadership

Co-ChairsSuzanne Fletcher Mary Jane Rintelman

Landowners Dick BaudhuinJeff KrauseLynn BuschMike BaudhuinPete Rogers

DevelopmentMary Brevard Barbara FrankRobo BrumderFawn Rogers

Finance/LegalBen Laird

Nature StudyDebbie and Russ FeirerRobin SquierNaseem RezaTim FitzgeraldCarol Grelck

Public Relations/MediaKelly Spitzley

Discovery & AcquisitionTerrie Cooper (Door County Land Trust)

contact:Mary Jane Rintelmanmjrbl@me.com

Suzanne Fletchersuzanne_fletcher@hms.harvard.edu

All images were taken on Chambers Island.

noveMber 2013

Brochure design by Kelly Spitzley