Monday, August 15, 2005

Reach for the sky


Beach grass reaches skyward at Toft's Point in Door County, Wisconsin. The National Park Service has designated the area as a National Natural Landmark due to its unique mix of
"... boreal forest and bog vegetation, and unusually high species diversity, as well as the best mixed stand of large red and white pine, hemlock, and northern hardwoods on the western shore of Lake Michigan."
The preserved stand of pines can be attributed to the Toft family, the original owners of the land, who refused to give in to pressure from lumber companies in the early 1900s to harvest the trees on the property. Seems the Tofts believed in a value beyond the financial gain to be received by cutting down their trees.

Not that they didn't believe in earning a living from their property. For a time, the Tofts operated a small resort for city folks to come and enjoy the northern wilderness of Wisconsin. I guess they had a vision of preserving the area for future generations to enjoy, which I did.

Thanks.

Click on photo to enlarge. © 2005 James Jordan.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your photos are wonderful. God Bless!

James said...

Thanks much for the kind comment. I took a look at the dog photo on your site. It bears a resemblance to a Jim Carrey character.

Anonymous said...

I think a more complete caption might have been, "reach for the sky, angels flying by." It certainly appears that angels were flying by in this photo. Great shot. I am enjoying your blog.

James said...

Interesting observation. I was trying to make some sense of the clouds as I was composing the shot. Angels works for me. Thanks.