LIP Priority Areas

Current and Past LIP Projects
Door County

2009: Phragmites control near Kellner Fen State Natural Area

Project Acreage:	5
Benefiting Species:	Hine's emerald Dragonfly Seaside Spurge Tufted Bulrush Crinkled Hairgrass Brown Beakrush Rocky Mountain Sedge Leafy White Orchis Large-flowered Ground-cherry White Adder's-mouth	Hooker Orchis Showy Lady's-slipper Dwarf Lake Iris Northern Yellow Lady's-slipper American Black Duck Crawe Sedge Thickspike Cuckooflower Dune Thistle American Sea-rocket

Project Goal and Site Description:
The ideal outcome is to see the three Phragmites clones eliminated from the project site. The benefit of removing the Phragmites would benefit the at-risk species in a number of ways;

stop the conversion of a diverse fen community to a monoculture community,
remove an aggressive competitor that has been shown to displace native (including rare) species, and
improve habitat quality for the Hines Emerald Dragonfly.

The project site is comprised of an open fen community that features a floating peat mat with a series of interconnected open water pools at the center and is critical habitat for the federally endangered Hine's Emerald Dragonfly. The mat consists of a diversity of sedges and supports many rare plant species such as the brown beak-rush, tussock bulrush, white bog orchid, and dragon's-mouth orchid. Two shallow, thinly soiled limestone peninsulas vegetated with white cedar, balsam fir, and tag alder are located to the north and northwest of the open water area of the fen. The open aspect of the fen community is nearly free of invasives. There are four small patches of Phragmites located within the fen; three of these patches are targeted for control in this proposal. The remaining clone is on an adjacent parcel of private land not interested in pursuing a LIP grant.

Pickerel Pond Invasive Species Management Proposal

Project Acreage:	15
Benefiting Species:	Cooper's milkvetch Blue-winged Teal Hine's emerald Purple false oats American Bittern Hair-like sedge Swamp-pink sticky goldenrod Marsh willow-herb Bird's-eye primrose	beautiful sedge elk sedge low spike-moss Tufted Bulrush Common bog arrow-grass Cuckooflower northern comandra Slim-stem small-reedgrass two-spotted skipper Bird's-eye primrose

Project and Site Description:
The project will remove 10-15 acres of Phragmites, protecting the 100-acre Pickerel Pond ecosystem and surrounding natural areas. Staff and volunteers will help bundle the Phragmites. Contractors will cut the stems and treat the Phragmites with the herbicide Habitat.

Pickerel Pond is a high-quality natural area with a high diversity of flora and fauna. It is critical to remove the Phragmites to protect the diversity within Pickerel Pond and eliminate the possibility of the Phragmites spreading to other natural areas. Pickerel Pond is a highly sensitive area and supports key species, such as the federally endangered Hines Emerald Dragonfly. Aerial spraying is not an option due to the impact the herbicide will have on native vegetation and the ecosystem within the project area. Manually herbiciding Phragmites stems is the only option, a labor intensive management proposal The Ridges Sanctuary can not successfully due to limited resources. Additional funding is needed to contract out a work crew to assist Ridges' staff and volunteers to control the 10-15 acres of Phragmites.

Pickerel Pond is part of The Ridges Sanctuary, Inc. The Ridges Sanctuary is a 1300 acre Wisconsin State Natural Area that has been designated as a National Natural Landmark, an Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society and is part of Baileys Harbor Township - identified as the most biologically diverse township in Wisconsin. The Ridges Sanctuary is adjacent to two other natural areas - Mud Lake and Toft Point. Pickerel Pond is a freshwater marsh that drains into Lake Michigan. It is surrounded by a sedge meadow with dominant species as Great Northern Bulrush, Blue Joint Grass and Carex stricta, with other common species being Buckbean, Labrador Marsh Bedstraw, Pitcher Plant, Grass of Parnassus, and Marsh Five-finger. Due to its remote location, this area has not been disturbed by development or agriculture runoff and remains a pristine natural habitat.

Habitat Enhancement for Lands within the Bay Shore Blufflands SNA

Project Acreage:	17.27
Benefiting Species:	One-flowered broomrape Long-spur violet Climbing fumitory Veery ram's-head lady's-slipper Eastern Meadowlark Canada Warbler American Bittern	Northern Yellow Lady's-slipper Hooker orchis Wood Thrush Red-shouldered Hawk Northern Goshawk dwarf lake iris Black-billed Cuckoo

Project and Site Description:
The goal of this project is to remove buckthorn and remediate a road scar from a planned subdivision (now abandoned) to improve understory diversity and ephemeral forested wetland and surrounding habitat to improve habitat for at risk species plant and animal species such as the Ram's Head Lady Slipper Orchid. In addition, to suppress the Reed Canary Grass to restore the hydrological function of the entire property and increase the diversity of at-risk native wetland flora.

The current primary land use is for education, habitat preservation and habitat enhancement. The property contains several habitats and a variety of topography, soils and hydrology. The transition from Niagara Escarpment with moist cliff species including bulblet ferns and wild sarsaparilla, to Northern Mesic Forest of Sugar Maple and Hemlock with spring ephemerals and Canada Yew, to Mesic Cedar Forest to Ephemeral Pond with Yellow Water Crowfoot, Mermaid Weed and several sedges, to Ash Swamp, to Alder Thicket with prevalent Marsh Marigolds, to Northern Sedge Meadow, Submergent Marsh and finally a small creek continuing through adjacent property to Green Bay, offers compelling opportunities for robust variety of species.

The adjacent Bayshore Blufflands SNA, administer by the Door County Land Trust, is routinely used by hikers, for educational hikes and occasional Land Trust public events. Located along more than three miles of the Niagara Escarpment, Bayshore Blufflands is an ecologically complex site with a diversity of plant communities both above and below the escarpment and a series of seeps and springs at the base of the bluff's talus slopes. Rising 150-200 feet above the low terrace of Green Bay, the steep carbonate cliffs and outcrops support numerous rare land snails including the cherrystone drop snail (Hendersonia occulta), a state-threatened species. Aspen, sugar maple, red oak, hemlock, and white cedar grow out of the talus affording complete shade to the escarpment maintaining the cool and damp conditions, which support a lush growth of mosses.

Invasive Species Control at TNC Mink River Preserve

Project Acreage:	10
Benefiting Species:	Blue-winged Teal dwarf lake iris Veery Hine's emerald Dragonfly Bird's-eye primrose Northern Flying Squirrel

Project and Site Description:
The site area is within and adjacent to the Mink River Estuary Preserve and State Natural Area. Invasive garlic mustard and Dame's Rocket exist both along the outer edge of the preserve and on the neighboring private parcels. In order to prevent damage to the preserve's understory community, these invasives must be eliminated from both the protected land and the neighboring parcels due to their rapid and easy spread to neighboring areas. While control efforts have been underway for a few years using volunteer efforts, intense control efforts using hired contractors are necessary to truly control this invasive population. This control work must be carefully executed due to the presence of native species in the area. Careful attention will be paid to ensure that the contractor avoids native plant damage while herbiciding invasive species. Follow-up work will continue to be performed by the TNC volunteers and private landowners.

One acre of the project area is forested TNC property on a peninsula adjacent to the estuary. The additional project area (9.4 acres) is made up of privately owned lots on the remainder of the peninsula. Some of these lots host single family homes while others are native wooded lots. Garlic mustard control activities have been organized by TNC on the entire project area for the past four years. The private land owners have participated in these control efforts.

Removal of Woody Invasives from Mink River Watershed

Project Acreage:	30
Benefiting Species:	Dwarf lake iris Hine's emerald Dragonfly American Woodcock

Project and Site Description:
This land has been family-owned since 1978. It was purchased by the applicant's father, a professional botanist & former director of The Morton Arboretum, and is noteworthy for its rich variety of trees, shrubs and wildflowers. The 40 acre project area contains a rich mix of dry woodland, open field and wet woodland, and vernal pond. Many aggressive invasives are gaining foothold on the land. Eradicating the invasives before they get too dense is necessary in order to facilitate better habitat for the Hines Emerald Dragonfly as well as other insect and bird species.

The land is in close proximity to extensive Nature Conservancy holdings, so it is a good investment as a "mosaic" property that will fit with long-term conservation goals.

Bay Shore Blufflands SNA Habitat Restoration

Project Acreage:	90
Benefiting Species:	Midwest Pleistocene Vertigo Dentate supercoil American Woodcock Ram's-head lady's-slipper American Bittern Dwarf lake iris	Iowa Pleistocene Vertigo Climbing Fumitory Black-throated Blue Warbler Northern Goshawk Northern Yellow lady's-slipper Cherrystone Drop

Project and Site Description:
The site area was originally a contiguous forested block of diverse upland and lowland forest, escarpment and terraced wetlands that provide high-quality habitat to many wildlife species. The site was subsequently fragmented and thus degraded by logging, clearing for agriculture, and for residential and recreational development.

Efforts to restore the intact canopy by promoting natural succession are impeded by an aggressive infestation of two non-native woody plants: common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) and bush honeysuckle (Lonicera spp). The rapid spread of these shrubs into the cleared areas abutting the forested areas is out competing the native species ability to reestablish. It has also provides a seed source for infestation of adjacent private properties, which is a serious concern for neighboring landowners and a detriment to the Land Trust's efforts to gain support for land protection in the vicinity of the SNA. Many thousands of hours of staff and volunteer time have been devoted to battling buckthorn and honeysuckle at the project site over the past five years, but the size and rate of spread of the population is clearly beyond the scale of a volunteer effort.

Last Revised: May 18, 2009