Acres:1345
Year Conserved:2015
County:Baraga
Category:Public Nature Area

Highlights

The Huron Bay Field Station is a 1,345-acre nature area that forms the heart of the Abbaye Peninsula, and its value as wildlife habitat cannot be overstated. Important coastal wetlands support a diversity of migratory songbirds, raptors, and other native plants and animals. Conservation of this large tract is equally important for protection of the fisheries of Huron Bay, especially the vulnerable and productive nearshore aquatic habitats that could be damaged by improper development or overharvesting of the adjacent timberlands. Most of the property is classified as wetlands, which makes travel on foot or by vehicle difficult but offers a wide variety of habitats for native species to thrive in.

Planning your visit

 

The Huron Bay Field Station is located off of Point Abbaye Road north of L’Anse and open to non-motorized recreation and hunting. The property is remote and somewhat difficult to access now due to the current condition of roads and trails on the property. The access road leading into the nature area is rough with potholes that may damage low-clearance vehicles and can be soggy in wet conditions. During the winter, Point Abbaye Road is plowed to beyond where the Huron Bay Field Station driveway is located but the access road is not plowed. Structures on the property will be available for use once some needed projects and repairs are completed.

Why this place is special

Efforts to conserve the Huron Bay Field Station have been a remarkable success for the Keweenaw Land Trust’s Abbaye Peninsula-Huron Bay Conservation Initiative. This Initiative received national recognition with a $1 million grant in 2015 from the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation program of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, matched by many private donors, that was used to make the original land purchase for the Huron Bay Field Station. The property once operated as a high-fence commercial game farm facility bounded by 8 miles of 10-foot-tall fence that contained exotic game species like elk, wild boar, and non-native deer, but KLT has worked to remove the fence and restore natural connectivity for the many native animals present across the Peninsula. In 2017, KLT was able to add 100 acres to the Field Station with a generous grant from The Carls Foundation.

Many partners are contributing to goals for the Field Station guided by a recent stewardship management plan that include ecological research, landscape restoration, and opportunities for enhanced hunting and non-motorized recreation to contribute to the local economy.

Maps & documents

The following documents provide additional details about this nature area.