Crossroads at Big Creek reports that the Nature Conservancy is donating the Ida Bay forest to the environmental, historical & educational preserve in Sturgeon Bay. The Nature Conservancy received the property as a bequest from the Ida Bay estate in 1995 & since has managed the site as a natural area in accordance with Mrs. Bay’s wishes. Donation of the property to Crossroads required approval from Door County circuit court & that approval was granted by Judge D. Todd Ehlers on Friday. The conservancy’s donation of the property will come with an endowment to be held by the Door County Community Foundation. Earnings from the endowment will be used to allay annual costs for stewardship of the property. The parcel includes an old-growth forest of large red oaks, tall pines, white cedar. Hemlock, sugar maple & beech. The Ida Bay forest represents a 64.69 acre tract that is bordered by Cove Road, Canal Road & Zenith Street & lies less than a mile from Crossroads Utah Street entrance. At their nearest points the properties are separated by only a quarter mile. Crossroads will continue to maintain the site as a natural area, open for nature study & quiet recreation.
