Land Trust Buys Eagle Habitat Area <> Preserve Will Be Open to the Public By 2009
By DON BEHM
Mequon — Bald eagles will be assured of a permanent, secluded nesting area in the Milwaukee metropolitan area now that the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust has purchased a heavily wooded ravine and bluff on the Lake Michigan shore only a few miles north of the Milwaukee County border.
The conservation organization acquired the 23-acre natural area – - home of the first successfully nesting bald eagles in the metropolitan area in more than 100 years — from Lifestyle Development LLC at a cost of $3.5 million, land trust executive director Shawn Graff said Tuesday.
Gov. Jim Doyle visited the ravine, known locally as the Donges Bay gorge, on Tuesday to announce his approval of a $2.26 million state Stewardship grant to the land trust for the acquisition.
The property includes more than 1,200 feet of lake shoreline, and Graff acknowledged that protection of the costly property would not have been possible without the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship program and other partners.
“The eagles would have had to land on the most valuable piece of property in southeastern Wisconsin,” Graff said.
The Stewardship grant comes in two parts: a primary contribution of $1.75 million to finance half of the total purchase price; and a second contribution of $506,500. The extra funding is equal to half the appraised value of three natural areas recently donated to the land trust.
Stewardship rules enable land trusts to leverage the value of donated properties in this way so that additional natural areas can be protected, said Dan Kaemmerer, a grant specialist with the state Department of Natural Resources in Milwaukee.
Another major partner in the acquisition is the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. The district has given the land trust a $600,000 grant from its Greenseams program in exchange for a conservation easement on the property. The easement will prohibit future development of the property with only a few exceptions, such as a parking lot and trails.
About 70 individuals and 15 foundations have also contributed money for the purchase, Graff said. The land trust is seeking an additional $200,000 in private contributions for an endowment that will be used to pay ongoing expenses of maintaining the property, he said.
In September 2006, two adult eagles built a nest atop a hillside white pine overlooking the lake. An eaglet hatched in spring 2007 and flew for the first time by July.
The adults kept a similar schedule this year, and a lone eaglet flew for the first time on July 4, nearby resident Don Edwards said.
Public access to the Donges Bay gorge will be delayed until the summer of 2009, Graff said. Access will be restricted until then because Lifestyle Development has started construction of roads for an 18-home subdivision west of the gorge. The driveway to the land trust property east of the gorge crosses the north end of the development.
To view the gorge and bluff before then, call the land trust office in West Bend for an appointment. The office telephone number is (262) 338-1794.
Use of Stewardship funds requires public access, and eventually a trail will be open for hiking and cross country skiing. Fishing will be allowed from the shoreline, but Mequon currently prohibits hunting in this section of the city. No motorized vehicles, bicycles, pets, horses or livestock will be allowed. Camping is prohibited.
Although bald eagles have been taken off the federal endangered species list, it remains a federal crime to harass eagles.
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