One of the largest tracts of undeveloped land
on Washington Island, the Richter Community
Forest Nature Preserve features a diverse mix
of northern hardwoods, numerous tip-up mounds
(uprooted trees), bedrock ridges, and an
abundance of spring wildflowers. The forest
varies greatly in composition reflecting the
different types of forest management activities
that have taken place over the past 100 years.
The preserve’s large tip-up mounds are clues
that this area, unlike most of Door County’s
interior, was never clear-cut and tilled for
agricultural use. Another clue is the presence
of numerous wildflowers. If land is tilled,
wildflower seed banks are disturbed. Even as a
forest begins to regenerate, it can take a
century or more for wildflowers to re-establish
themselves.