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In the summer 2022, an idea emerged to create an interconnected trail network across Door County for walkers, joggers and bikers. Under the auspices of the Door County Green Fund, a fund of the Door County Community Foundation, Inc., a team formed to explore making this vision a reality. Rather than define a shared vision, they decided to document the individual visions of municipalities, organizations and public landowners. The goal is to foster collaboration by helping stakeholders understand each other's existing and planned trails, increasing the likelihood of future interconnected development.
Established in 1998, the Door County Green Fund aimed to safeguard green spaces and environmentally sensitive areas. Initial grants supported projects in Ephraim and Crossroads at Big Creek, creating a wetlands preserve and acquiring open space, respectively. The Green Fund at the Door County Community Foundation will continue to support land acquisition projects in our community. But it will also invest in environmental education, fund land preservation, eradicate invasive species, and support other types of green projects.
Since our founding in 1998, the Green Fund, Inc. has been a prominent champion of the natural treasures of Door County. Originally envisioned as a funding resource for land acquisition and preservation, the Green Fund has been an enormous success right from the very start. At it’s most basic, the Green Fund pools the contributions from citizens who care about our environment then makes grants to the most promising initiatives in our community. In time it became clear that celebrating and preserving our environment requires more than investing in land acquisition. In addition to the purchase of land, the Green Fund needed to begin supporting environmental education, funding land preservation, eradicating invasive species, and assisting other types of “green” projects.
Door County is blessed with an abundance of natural resources. From our lakeshore to the wetlands, our orchards to the meadows, the open spaces and our rural roads – there is something about the beauty of this place that keeps us here or calls us back each year. The Door County Green Fund invests in environmental education, funds land preservation, protects native species, and supports other types of green projects. Of course, none of this is possible without the continued friendship and support of folks like you. By pooling our resources with the contributions of countless other good people, we’ll be able to sustain this very special quality of life we enjoy in Door County.
