Creating a National Park in Door County

By Bob Bultman

Famously, the Door Peninsula is part of the Niagara Escarpment, the ‘Great Arc’ of ancient dolostone cliffs that sweeps hundreds of miles from eastern Wisconsin north into the Upper Peninsula, and then arches east into the province of Ontario and south into Upper New York State. The most famous site is Niagara Falls, a place so mesmerizing that it would almost certainly be a U.S. National Park today if heavy industry had not gotten there first.

The Niagara Escarpment is also recognized for globally significant levels of biodiversity that includes rare flora and fauna in varied habitats and microclimates. Door County, for instance, is home to the World’s largest population of the very rare Hines Emerald Dragonfly, the U.S.’s only endangered dragonfly. 

For millennia, the arc has been a migration corridor for animals and humans. As proof, there are ample Indian archeological sites and a rich maritime heritage that includes beautiful lighthouses like those on the Door Peninsula.

Notably, the Door Peninsula has a twin peninsula in Ontario, located at the other end of the Great Arc. Canada has appreciated its importance for much longer than the U.S. — there are already two National Parks on the Bruce Peninsula and it has been recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 1990.

Notably, the Door Peninsula has a twin peninsula in Ontario, located at the other end of the Great Arc. Canada has appreciated its importance for much longer than the U.S. — there are already two National Parks on the Bruce Peninsula and it has been recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 1990.

Unique geology, critical location, globally significant biodiversity, rich cultural and maritime heritage— the Great Arc is a special place and the Door and Bruce Peninsulas share the same qualities. Isn’t it time to show our pride and designate “our” peninsula as a National Park, too?

The proposed Grand Traverse Islands National Park would encompass some of the islands that make up the ‘Grand Traverse’ between Michigan’s Garden Peninsula and the Door Peninsula. Similar to the Apostle Islands, the new park would largely be remote and rugged and protect critical habitat while stabilizing historical maritime treasures that are crumbling into ruins on the more remote islands. The beautiful simplicity of the proposal is that it requires no acquisition of private property. There is enough land already owned by ‘We the People’ to make it happen.

Some efforts to safeguard the islands and save our maritime heritage are already underway, but the aging structures require fairly quick action. Creating a National Park would bring the needed resources and coordinatelarger conservation efforts across disciplines. Unified management would bring the stability and sustainability needed to safeguard these treasures for our future generations.