In 2024 I visited Wisconsin’s Plum Island, a semi-private island that is owned by the US Fish & Wildlife Service. Plum is one of 6 islands that comprise the Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge, which preserves essential stopover and nesting habitat for a variety of migratory birds, like gulls and cormorants. They also serve as a sanctuary for a variety of old growth trees and plants, some of which, like the dwarf lake iris, are endangered. While doing research for a separate but related map project, I had difficulty finding any decent map depicting this refuge, or the other nearby islands that lie within this archipelago, so I decided to make one myself! The illustration vignettes represent species that can be found on each of the islands.
