Plum Island is an island in

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

in the southern part of the town of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

in Door County, off the tip of the

Door Peninsula The Door Peninsula is a peninsula in eastern Wisconsin, separating the southern part of the Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay from Lake Michigan. The peninsula includes northern Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, Kewaunee County, northeaster ...

in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

state of

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. The uninhabited island has a land area of or . Carp Lake is located on the northwestern side. During years when Lake Michigan's water levels are high, it is a lagoon of Lake Michigan, but it gets cut off as a separate lake during low water years.Flora and Vegetation of the Grand Traverse Islands (Lake Michigan), Wisconsin and Michigan
by Emmet J. Judziewicz, ''The Michigan Botanist'', Volume 40, Number 4, October 2001, page 127 The island is a bird sanctuary under control of the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

and part of the

Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the United States located in the state of Wisconsin. It includes five all or part of six islands in Lake Michigan: Hog Island, Plum Island, Pilot Island, part of St. Martin Is ...

. and is also open to the public for recreational purposes.Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge Hunt, Fish & Public Use Regulations 2021-2022
''USFWS'' (Archived February 23, 2022) The island also holds the unmanned

Plum Island Range Lights The Plum Island Range Lights are a pair of range lights located on Plum Island in Door County, Wisconsin. They were part of the Plum Island United States Life-Saving Station. Plum Island was transferred to the United States Fish and Wildlife ...

History

The border between Wisconsin and Michigan was originally defined as "the most usual ship channel" into Green Bay from Lake Michigan but commercial routes existed both to the north and south of the island which led to a border dispute. In 1936, the U.S. Supreme Court decision ''

Wisconsin v. Michigan Two Supreme Court cases, ''Wisconsin v. Michigan'', 295 U.S. 455 (1935) and ''Wisconsin v. Michigan'', 297 U.S. 547 (1936), settled a territorial dispute between Wisconsin and Michigan. Background The 1836 boundary description between Wiscons ...

'' found that Plum and other nearby islands were part of Wisconsin.

Climate

View on the north side of the island

Nearby islands

References

Plum Island: Block 2128, Block Group 2, Census Tract 9801, Door County, Wisconsin
United States Census Bureau *"Speaker will discuss Plum Island bird survey", ''Beaver Dam Daily Citizen'', Friday, December 9, 2005

External links

Plum Island Trail Map
''USFWS'' (Archived September 5, 2021)
Plum Island visit website
''USFWS''

Web-Map of Door County, Wisconsin Uninhabited islands of Wisconsin Islands of Door County, Wisconsin Lake islands of Wisconsin Islands of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin Protected areas of Door County, Wisconsin Former disputed islands {{DoorCountyWI-geo-stub