How We Can All Care for Door County

By Morgan Rusnak, Community Engagement Manager, Destination Door County

Care for Door County is the sum total of all of our cultural, quality-of-life, and eco-focused initiatives and the actions we can take to protect and care for the place we love. Our partnership with Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, rooted in Leave No Trace’s educational principles, allows us to mobilize on this initiative.

The Door County Leave No Trace 7 Principles, built specifically for Door County, ensure that both residents and visitors are equipped with environmental sustainability information along with easy-to -practice skills to responsibly explore Door County’s natural world. Over time, the Leave No Trace partnership sparked hands-on opportunities, like Leave No Trace Tuesdays, a monthly service project open to all community members. Projects across the county ranged from picking up litter, mulching beds, pulling invasive species, maintaining native gardens, and combing beaches for micro-plastics.

This year, we’re evolving that program and partnering with Peninsula State Park as a host for the Leave No Trace towards probable resolutions from the impacts of tourism.

Center for Outdoor Ethics’ 2023 Spotlight Program, taking place June 8-10, 2023. Social, educational and outreach events will be held throughout Peninsula State Park with support from the Leave No Trace team, and the three-day event will culminate in a parkwide stewardship project on Saturday, June 10: National Get Outdoors Day. We couldn’t be more excited!

Care for Door County encompasses more than just environmental stewardship, however. In 2022, Destination Door County collaborated with over 12 area non-profit organizations, helping to sponsor events, create joint programming, and support those who are uplifting the community by sharing their message and mission. We launched several exciting grant programs that will directly improve the quality of life in Door County, and we continue to open the doors to new conversations about ways DDC can raise up the whole community.

Once the research and engagement are completed, then evaluation, analysis and plan development occur, followed by plan implementation. The completion of this project will be the catalyst to enable our destination to take a big step forward towards our community’s shared vision and long-term sustainability.

Be on the lookout for upcoming opportunities to participate by providing your own thoughts and feelings about Door County’s present and future. Robust community involvement in the planning process will result in an even more comprehensive and dynamic Destination Master Plan that will help guide us into the future.

This summer? Catch DDC out and about in the community much more often! Be sure to say hello if you see us at a farmer’s market, music in the park, or a festival. Find more information about what we’re doing at doorcounty.com/care-for-door-county.

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