International Treaty Group Recognizes Door County Wetlands

A group overseeing an international treaty says another Wisconsin wetlands complex is globally significant.

The Ramsar Convention has previously named Horicon Marsh, the Upper Mississippi River Floodplain Marshes and the Kakagon and Bad River Sloughs as Wetlands of International Importance. Now, the organization has made the same designation for 11,000 acres in northeastern Wisconsin known as the Door Peninsula Coastal Wetlands complex.

Katie Beilfuss of the Wisconsin Wetlands Association said the Door County property is special.

“They’re some of the last, best coastal wetlands we have, not just in Lake Michigan but all of the Great Lakes,” Beilfuss said.

That includes species such as the Hine’s emerald dragonfly and the dwarf lake iris. Ramsar’s designation does not supersede the authority of local landowners and land managers.

A map of the Door County site can be found here.