Point Creek Natural Area: Manitowoc County

Point Creek Management Committee

Point Creek Conservation Area is owned and managed by the Manitowoc County Park System and consists of 42 acres of woodlands and wetlands and features 2,800 feet of high bluffs on the Lake Michigan shoreline. Point Creek defines the southern boundary of the property, which includes over 1,000 feet of riparian corridor.  Historically, the entire property was cleared for agriculture. It has now been fully replanted with a variety of native trees.  Most of the site was planted to conifers decades ago and without thinning had become overstocked, resulting in low light levels and a low diversity ground layer.  The County performed a timber harvest to create a series of gaps and clearings within the forest, to increase habitat heterogeneity and light levels.  Through the Restore the Shore program, LNRP received funding for additional invasive species control and tree plantings to increase diversity. Volunteers planted over 2,200 native deciduous and coniferous trees in spring 2019, within the newly created clearings.  The site’s combination of mature conifers and gaps with diverse saplings together provide important migratory bird stopover habitat and foraging resources.