Federal funds to help restore Lake Superior sandbar

DULUTH — Preservation of rare coastal dunes and old-growth pines will be central to restoration plans for the western end of Wisconsin Point, the Lake Superior sandbar in Superior, Wis., that for centuries has played an integral role for area Anishinaabe.

The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve were awarded nearly $350,000 to create a vision and plan for the restoration and care of nearly 11 acres of land reclaimed by the band officially in 2017, after a lengthy federal transfer process. The western end of Gibiskising Minis, Ojibwe for “land bridge,” is separated from Duluth’s Park Point by a shipping canal.

The people of Fond du Lac traveled to the point for centuries for seasonal use, but many lived, fished and gathered there, until villagers were forced off the land by U.S. Steel in the early 1900s. The point is also part of the Anishinaabe’s westward movement along Lake Superior, settling where wild rice grows.

Wisconsin Point “has its part in some of our stories and our historic legends,” said Thomas Howes, Fond du Lac’s natural resource manager. “The important part is that we’re still here to take care of it. We want to see that our story is told.”

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding comes through the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s Office for Coastal Management. It will pay for archaeological and cultural surveys and a process to get community feedback for the project, expected to begin in August. Two degraded historic buildings and contamination have already been removed.

The plan will likely be minimalist, aiming to protect Lake Superior dunes through removal and consolidation of roads and pathways and through other resiliency efforts. Those dunes are part of a rare ecosystem. Atlantic Ocean beach grass grows around them, their existence here being the farthest inland from the ocean, since the Duluth-Superior port is the westernmost point in the Great Lakes, said Deanna Erickson, director of the Superior-based reserve, part of the UW-Madison Extension division.

Plans will also likely include restoration of native vegetation, including junipers, scrub bushes and bearberries, and potentially planned fires — a culturally important forest management practice — to sustain blueberry bushes and other plants used by the band.

“And there’s some incredible red pine and white pine grown on both of the points,” Erickson said. “That habitat is profoundly important for migratory birds” as they prepare to cross the largest freshwater surface on Earth. Red pine pitch has also historically been used to galvanize birch bark canoes, among other uses, Erickson said, and it does better with well-planned burning.

Restoration efforts will also improve access and the quality of plants and animals not found on reservation lands, helping to sustain cultural practices, transmission of oral history and well-being, Howes said. Both the tribe and the reserve hope the work and planned outreach reduces off-roading, illegal dumping and vandalism that sometimes plague the site.

The big picture, Howes said, is that Wisconsin Point is a bright spot in the entire Lake Superior estuary because it is so undeveloped. And its role as a natural preserve for people and creatures is critical, he said.

The point is also home to an Ojibwe burial ground, which the city of Superior transferred to the band in 2022.

Conservation work at the end of the point is “long overdue for the Fond du Lac Band and for all Ojibwe people who love and care for Wisconsin Point,” Erickson said.

An Ojibwe-led landscape architecture firm, Urban Ecosystems, will be used, along with archaeological expert 106 Group Cultural Resource Consulting. Urban Ecosystems also developed plans for the Waabizheshikana Trail in western Duluth.