Wisconsin Islands Wilderness
| Wisconsin Islands Wilderness | |
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IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)
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| Location | Door County, Wisconsin, USA |
| Nearest city | Liberty Grove, Wisconsin |
| Coordinates | 45°12′32″N 86°58′38″W / 45.2090127°N 86.9773006°WCoordinates: 45°12′32″N 86°58′38″W / 45.2090127°N 86.9773006°W |
| Area | 29 acres (12 ha) |
| Established | 1970 |
| Governing body | United States Fish & Wildlife Service |
The Wisconsin Islands Wilderness is a 29-acre (12 ha)wilderness area located in Door County in northeastern Wisconsin. It is one of the smallest wilderness areas in the United States. Managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the wilderness area is composed of three islands in Lake Michigan.
The islands comprising the Wisconsin Islands Wilderness were initially declared a national preserve and breeding ground for migratory birds around 1913, and designated as wildlife refuges shortly thereafter. Plum Island and Pilot Island both have lighthouse facilities (the Plum Island Range Lights and the Pilot Island Light, both on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places), and have had minor U.S. Coast Guard presence, even as late as 2007. However, Spider, Hog, and Gravel Islands have always remained uninhabited. In 1970, these three islands were designated a wilderness area under the Wilderness Act.
The Wisconsin Islands Wilderness is managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and is composed of three islands in Lake Michigan:
The three islands are largely limestone and dolomite outcroppings of the Niagara Escarpment, exhibit geology typical of changing water levels and glaciation, and rise only a few feet above the surface of Lake Michigan. Canadian yew, red raspberry, and red-berried elder grow on Hog Island, while only the remnants of a mixed birch, cedar, and tamarack forest remains on Spider Island, after having succumbed to thousands of nesting birds. There is no known vegetation on Gravel Island.
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Wikipedia