Preserving the Magic – A daughter’s gift becomes a legacy of protection
A photo while Ariel and her father, Fritz, were hiking around the mountain known as Mount Rainier back in 2006. Photo by Ariel Pate
As a child, Ariel Pate would occasionally visit her family’s wooded 40-acre property in northern Door County with her father, Fritz Renner. Each visit felt magical.
“It always felt slightly mystical,” she recalls. Nestled in the headwaters of the West Branch of Whitefish Bay Creek, the land quietly held a vernal stream and thick stands of trees that seemed to whisper their own story.
A Personal Gift, a Larger Purpose
Now, Ariel has ensured that story will continue. By donating the land to Door County Land Trust in memory of her father, a lifelong conservationist, she has added a powerful new chapter to her family’s legacy of stewardship.
The decision came into focus when she studied satellite maps and saw just how unique the property was. Her family’s parcel sat within a much larger stretch of undeveloped forest, a rare remnant in the heart of the peninsula. “Due to a whole host of factors, it’s been mostly left alone,” she said.
As she returned over time, walking the land in different seasons, she noticed how the trees had matured and how native plants had adapted around the spring-fed stream. What began as a personal act of remembrance became something more: a chance to protect a living corridor of wild land.
“It was an opportunity to preserve a large swath of land that couldn’t be accomplished by simply keeping the acreage as private property,” she said.
Where Ecology and Emotion Meet
With each walk, through snowmelt, spring bloom and autumn hush, the land revealed more of itself. The vernal stream curved through the forest floor. Ferns pushed through damp soil. Native plants settled into patterns of light, water, and resilience.
“The trees there are truly beautiful, and my family and I have enjoyed hiking through it at different times of year, observing the ways different plants have grown in particular ways,” she said.
For Ariel, donating the land was about more than protecting habitat. It was a way to honor her father’s values and extend them into the future.
“I hope people can experience a connection to place,” she said, “and an appreciation for how nature recovers and adapts.” She imagines future visitors walking those same quiet trails, noticing the light through the trees, the hush of the stream, the way wild spaces invite reflection. In giving this land to the Land Trust, she’s ensured that the feeling she once had, a sense of something slightly mystical, just off the beaten path, will still be waiting for those who seek it.
Mature forest and decaying logs support fungi, mosses, and other species on the 40-acre Pate property, recently donated to Door County Land Trust in memory of Fritz Renner. The land includes upland forest, wetlands, and a tributary of Whitefish Bay Creek. Photo by Carrie Ehrfurth
Conservation Gift That Protects More Than Trees
This protected 40-acre property includes mature upland forest, nine acres of wetland and a tributary of the West Branch of Whitefish Bay Creek, features that support a diversity of native plant and animal species. Rolling glacial moraine formations and existing two-track paths wind through the woods, creating opportunities for future hiking access.
Just as importantly, the land forms part of a much larger conservation mosaic. It strengthens an ecological corridor that links Door County Land Trust’s nearby Oak Road Nature Preserve with other protected lands, contributing to watershed-scale protection for the greater Whitefish Bay watershed. These protected areas together safeguard clean water, healthy forests, and connected wildlife habitat, key priorities of the Land Trust’s mission.
A Call to Protect What’s Left
“I hope other people feel inspired to support the continued preservation of natural areas,” Ariel said, “either through direct donations or by advocating for the robust funding of programs like the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program.”
Her gift, made in memory of her father, reflects not just a love for this land, but a belief in the broader systems, like land trusts and public conservation funding, that make lasting protection possible.
As part of a larger corridor of forest and wetlands, this newly protected parcel advances Door County Land Trust’s mission to protect the wild places that define the peninsula, its clean waters, wildlife habitat and natural beauty, for generations to come.
