Burke helps Land Trust grow as a vital Door County conservation group
By Donna Marie Pocius
Special to DoorCountyNavigator.com

As Door County Land Trust’s first and only executive director, Dan Burke’s leadership has helped the organization protect 3,300 acres of Peninsula land.

While he’s proud of that accomplishment, Burke says it’s the little things like getting a thank you note from one of the nonprofit organization’s 1,500 members that really tug at his heart.

But a big part of Burke’s job, which he has held since 1996, is meeting with land owners, especially those who own second homes here, telling them about the Land Trust and its programs to control the type and amount of development that may take place in Door County’s future.

“We’ve been very interested in the environment. Our 100-acre farm is in the Land Trust. It will be kept a single family residence,” says Phyllis Ingwersen who lives in Sister Bay and in Scottsdale with her husband James Ingwersen, a renowned portrait painter.

Protecting property from adverse development
One of the Land Trust’s popular programs is the conservation easement, which ensures a homeowner’s property, like the Ingwersen’s farm, will always remain grounds for a single family residence by taking certain developmental rights away from future owners.

“People who come to Door County or who have second homes here are coming here for the beauty of the land, so it is very appealing to them to work with an organization that helps ensure their property will remain intact,” Burke explains.

“Other people can come and live on the land, but it (a conservation easement) is basically controlling the type and amount of development that will take place on the property in the future.”

For example, a property owner with 10 acres may sleep easy knowing that he has entrusted rights to the Land Trust, ensuring that 9 acres remain as open land while no more than one acre is devoted to housing. The Land Trust has 40 conservation agreements with Door County property owners.

“Conservation is always the driving force of owners who want to work with us. We conserve their land’s future. And there are some tax advantages to working with us,” Burke says.

Grants spur land shopping spree
Following receipt of substantial federal land acquisition grants, the Land Trust is on a shopping spree. The organization is eyeing five to six project areas including properties on Washington Island, The Bay Shore Blufflands Preserve, White Cliff Fen and Forest and the Kellner Fen Preserve--a coastal wetland area located north of the Sturgeon Bay ship canal.

A $1 million federal grant was obtained following cooperative efforts between the Land Trust and other conservation groups—The Nature Conservancy, The Ridges Sanctuary and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Burke explains while each organization is distinct, they seize opportunities to work together on grant-writing and on public awareness projects such as an annual guided hike on protected property throughout the Peninsula.

“We have the broadest mission, but we pretty much know what everybody is working on,” Burke says.

To fulfill the Land Trust mission—“to protect the scenic beauty, rural character and ecological integrity of lands in Door County”—Burke and his staff enter into the conservation easement agreements, accept donations of property and purchase land.

This land is yours; this land is mine
Burke also is on an educational mission of sorts, reaching diverse groups such as sports enthusiasts about the Land Trust.

“I see the biggest challenge is more of an educational one. There are a variety of groups open to us—our challenge is to show how the Land Trust works to benefit all—sports clubs and snowshoers and how protection of open space benefits their loves, too. We haven’t reached out as well as we should have,” Burke says.

By working “collectively” Burke hopes people can preserve rural character of Door County—the quality which attracted them to the Peninsula in the first place.

“It’s one of the things people come here for—the rural characteristic, and the more people who come the more it erodes. It is no one’s fault, but collectively it is a concern,” he says.

“There are tools in place with organizations like ours helping us to have both—people living and working and still open space which we all love up here.”

To learn more about the Door County Land Trust, visit www.doorcountylandtrust.org

Donna Marie Pocius, an Egg Harbor-based freelance writer, is a frequent contributor to DoorCountyNavigator.com. Contact her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Donna Marie Pocius is an Egg Harbor, Wisconsin-based freelance writer.