PBS Wisconsin Documentaries

Narrator

One look at the pristine western Lake Michigan shoreline in Door County and you see why generations have worked so hard to make this peninsula their home. The wildlife in Door County supported and still supports its people. First fur trapping then fishing brought settlers. Early pioneers cleared what was shore-to-shore forest to make farmland. Logging was Door County's most lucrative industry until 1890. But there is one woods that stands, intact and ancient as it was found by the Danish settler Thomas Toft and his wife Julieyanne in 1871 Toft Point, in Baileys Harbor. Despite commercial development just down the road Toft Point today remains as it was over a thousand years ago. This area, just over one square mile has some of the greatest biodiversity in the Midwest. But it took a fight to maintain this area's natural environment. We could trace Toft Point back a good many years. It was underwater, let's say, maybe 2,500 years ago. Everything that has grown since then all the wildlife that came to live there from the tiny organisms to the insects to the birds, and mammals today they have changed very little since then. There are very few places like it.

Robert Howe

I think we all owe a great debt to the Toft family and particularly Emma for their love of nature and their willingness to protect this place in the condition in which they found it.

Narrator

Emma Toft or Miss Emma as she was known by friends fought to save the environment in an era when men controlled and transformed the landscape. I think she was ahead of her time with the women's movement and everything else because she had a real sense of self and then a real sense of the preservation of this place, as well. Back then it was like people were saying well, she probably got attention because she was a woman and she was speaking about something that wasn't very popular at the time to talk about. People just didn't talk about environmental protection back then. But she did, so she was, I guess way ahead of her time and with the environmental movement way ahead of the environmental movement, too.

Roy Lukes

Emma was a lady of the wilderness. She stood up for what she thought was right and wise use of the land and wise respect for the plants and the animals. She had no goal as far acquiring wealth was concerned, monetary wealth. She felt the wealth was in preserving our natural environment.

Narrator

Emma Toft was born on Toft Point in 1891 and grew up playing with her six brothers and sisters on the lake and in the woods. They drew water from the well and lived off the garden. Emma Toft grew up with a family that valued those things. Her parents valued the tall trees and the wildflowers. She learned that from her mother and her father. She was a rather tall, stately woman. She carried herself well. She stepped lightly in the woods. She almost floated when she was in the woods carefully walking. Everything about her actions and her voice and manners kind of reflected respect.

Ruth Scholz

She was a mixture of vinegar and honey. She was determined about things that she believed in. And perhaps somebody else has told the story about her being so angry at a man that was picking the wildflowers along the road. She stopped and said to him "We don't pick the wildflowers here. We leave them where they are." He continued to pick, and finally she said "You're nothing but a damn hog!" And he did quit picking the flowers.

Narrator

As a young woman at the age of 28 Miss Emma left Door County to pursue a professional career 300 miles away, in Chicago. But things didn't go as planned as she revealed in this Wisconsin Public Radio interview from 1977.

Emma Toft

I taught school for quite a few years and I had gone into the Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago and was going to take nursing. Then Father became ill, and I was called home. I never went back. I stayed home with Mother then and then we took guests at Mud Bay. Her hands were so crooked from the hard work she did over the years. So much of it was the hard work of this huge garden she had in the back of the lodge. She would always serve something fresh or in season.

Narrator

Many people enjoyed a meal in Miss Emma's kitchen over the 50 years the resort was operational. Door County artist Gerhard Miller enjoyed the conversation and cooking so much he paid homage to Miss Emma and her work with a painting of her famous kitchen and its pot bellied stove. It was warm. It was warm, because she had that wood going. Even in the wintertime, the place was not of course heated she'd get that wood stove going and we'd have abel skivers out there, even in the winter.

Emma Toft

This friendly old wood stove, the Mayflower was bought from Sears & Roebuck in 1920. It cost us about $100 at that time. That was right after the war and things were high but it's been a good stove. We've never regretted getting it and it still works perfectly well and often, too.

Narrator

Miss Emma was not shy about standing up for what she believed. Long time friend Roy Lukes saw Miss Emma deliver some surprising comments to former Wisconsin Governor Patrick Lucey at a banquet.

Roy Lukes

They wanted to straighten the road out to North Port, that beautiful winding road. Emma fought that, and fought that, and fought that. He came to Emma and Emma was maybe four or five inches taller than Lucey. Lucey was a small man. She grabbed his hand and so help me I think he winced a little bit when she shook that hand. And with his hand locked in her right hand she pointed her finger, and right in front of his nose she said, "Governor Lucey, don't you dare let them straighten that road to North Port." He said, "Oh, I've heard about you Miss Toft," and that's as far as it went. That road never got straightened. There were people that didn't like Emma. She had a very strong personality. She was very outspoken. She would not hesitate, and I called her tunnel vision. She'd get one thing on her mind and she couldn't give it up no matter who she was with.

Norbert Blei

I think that again Emma made it from her mythological stand-off in the protection of that land that was hers. To keep hunters out of there, to keep loggers out of there something that the men would not think of doing.

Narrator

Miss Emma received a lot of the attention for the preservation of Toft Point. She was a champion for conversation in the area and attended meeting after meeting to gain support. But Emma's parents faced the first legal challenge to the property. For over two decades, the Toft family fought to save a piece of their land referred to as the "Fighting Forty." The area of dispute was filled with stands of large pines that would bring a premium dollar to loggers.

Roy Lukes

The Fighting Forty came to light when a man by the name of Moses Kilgore he was one of the early settlers and he was an entrepreneur. And now, when his boundary of the property he had already logged lies within sight of these huge pines and hemlocks his sights soon became pretty strongly focused on those big trees.

Narrator

The dispute started in 1901 and for over 20 years the surveyors' boundary line decision was never questioned. But, when new owners took over the adjoining property they sued, saying the surveyor made a mistake as Miss Emma recalled in this WHA Radio interview.

Emma Toft

They tried to change the lines, you see pushing in and take over a 40 of the best part of the land, of the pine. That is, it was the soundest, it would have made but you know that would have been slashed in a short time and that wouldn't mean work for people long.

Trudy Toft

I believe it wasn't until 1926 that the Supreme Court decision came down. Ultimately, the Supreme Court said "No, the original owners they agreed on that boundary they never questioned it, they lived by it and 20 years later, now you're not going to change it." That's acquiescence and that's the law.

Narrator

The Tofts won the legal battle but the long process was exhausting for the family both financially and emotionally. After her mother passed away, Miss Emma continued to run the resort and fight different battles. Paying the taxes was a constant challenge and that's where Trudy's dad, Thorval, was able to help.

Roy Lukes

I think it was very fortunate that Thorval had an income through his law work that could help support the taxes although Emma paid her fair share, too.

Narrator

It was the Toft family's goal to preserve the land for future generations but the challenges continued through the years. There were numerous opportunities to sell the property for a big profit to developers looking to build a golf course or private estates.

Roy Lukes

Another conflict that came about I think, in the early 1960s. An entrepreneur, who was Peter Merrill from Chicago decided he was going to try to buy Toft Point. His concept was that he was going to make a living area for extremely wealthy people and the men could helicopter to their jobs in Green Bay, Milwaukee, or Chicago and back to their home at Toft Point. I wish that I had some of the quotes that she-- just, "Greed, greed!" This was what she would talk about, greed. And just could not see it. She never did like changes. She just didn't. She thought we should keep it for the animals, the birds, and we should adjust.

Narrator

Miss Emma's notoriety grew as she expanded her conservation efforts outside of the Toft property. Her love for her neighbor The Ridges Sanctuary, was unmatched. Miss Emma's involvement with The Ridges began in the 1930s, as did her collaboration with Jens Jensen the well-known Midwest landscape architect. Miss Emma and Jens, shared common environmental ethics and both served on the board of directors of The Ridges.

Trudy Toft

She was one of the founders the emeritus board at The Ridges. It adjoins the property and again, it has many wildflowers that were her love. That was her specialty. She wanted to protect those. I think what she was seeing, and she would be horrified today if she saw the way Door County was. Because at that time, she was horrified by the development. It really wasn't, it was negligible.

Narrator

The importance of Toft Point and The Ridges can't be measured by looks alone. The ecological habitat the area provides to various species of insects and plants is truly unique. We get plants that can live farther north because of the cooling effect of Lake Michigan. So if we get plants and a forest type that we call a boreal forest we get animals, in particular, birds that will inhabit those trees and eat those plants or make nests out of them, use them for habitat. So we get a little bit of rarity because of the habitat is generally found further north. Door County has more rare and endangered species in the county than any other county in the state. Miss Emma's friendship with Jens Jensen and other Ridges Board members would allow her to reach even more people about her preservation ideologies. She took classes at Jensen's school, called The Clearing. The Clearing, or "school of the soil" as many know it is a place where adults who share an interest in nature arts or humanities can learn, reflect, and wonder. That's where I met Emma Toft who used to come there with a friend, Jens Jensen. So that was a little bit of a nucleus yeah, there are people here who feel this is a very special environment it should be preserved, it should be honored respected for the benefit of future generations. Jensen put his admiration for Miss Emma on canvas by painting the most scenic area of Toft Point and naming the two trees in the picture "Emma" and "Jens." To this day, it is the most popular area of the property for hikers and photographers.

Trudy Toft

Right now, we're basically on the rocks and the two trees you see behind me those are the trees that are in the painting of Jens Jensen-- symbolically of Jens Jensen and Emma. Of course the trees look very different now. They're straight and in the picture, they're leaning over with a storm. Again, it was the strength that it took to keep these trees that really haven't changed over the years to keep them standing storm after storm, after storm.

Ruby Toft

Jens always said he saw that as the two Danes that were fighting the tides he and Emma, for their causes. They each had something of particular interest that they were fighting for.

Narrator

As the years went by, Miss Emma of course slowed down. But she did not stop protecting her land. Just as she did in her younger years an aging Emma would go to great lengths to stop any threats to her property and things she held dear.

Trudy Toft

It was almost impossible to keep the poachers out. I mean, Emma never had a Thanksgiving dinner. She would not relax. She was out there with her game warden. They were patrolling this large amount of land. She would start the season well before with all of her "No Trespassing" all of her posting of signs. She would even go into these marshes that were a part of Toft's Point and she would post "No trespassing" signs out in the water.

Narrator

After all those years of fighting to preserve and persevere it finally reached the point where Miss Emma could no longer manage the land. But, rather than sell the property for a large profit for commercial purposes. Miss Emma and her nephew Thorval stuck to the family's lifelong goal of preserving the land for future generations by selling it to the Nature Conservancy for the assessed value of $69,000.

Emma Toft

This was done in 1968, and then all of the land was given to the University of Wisconsin. It is now under the management of the University Arboretum Program stemming from the University of Wisconsin campus in Green Bay. It will be used as a part of their natural environmental education program. It's pretty hard to put a price tag on something like that, but it would, financially I'm sure it would be worth millions. But the fact that it was preserved the way it was was the ideal way to do it.

Narrator

Miss Emma was recognized for her life-long environmental efforts with many honors most notably the Garden Club's bronze medal which she received in 1964. I think she accepted the award. She was humbled by it. But if she was on a mission for something else in Door County like the straightening of the road to Gill's Rock she would let the speaker know, or she would try to promote something in Door County on her agenda. She didn't necessarily get off of the agenda of Door County, ever. Emma was honored by the Wisconsin Academy of Science and Arts. She asked if I would go with her to Waukesha where the ceremony was to be. So we drove down, and on the way I said "Emma, do you have your thank you speech ready? You're going to be asked to respond, you know." "Yes," she said, "I have it ready." So that evening, when she was given the award her thank you speech was "My mother and father deserve this, thank you." And she sat down and that was her speech. Miss Emma spent her final days in an assisted living home which was tough for a woman who lived most of her life in the great outdoors. And it was tough for Emma's friends to see her confined to just a small room when they were used to seeing her living off the land.

Norbert Blei

I didn't get to say too much to her. I remember holding her hand for a little while. I knew one of the great ones one of the icons of the county was going to pass and she would not be replaceable, that's for sure.

Narrator

Miss Emma passed away on Valentine's Day of 1982. Her friends say she would be proud to know that the land she loved so much looks much the same as it did when she was a child.

Carl Scholz

A great lady and of course, the first lady of conservation. I should mention too that I think she certainly deserves to be named to the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame.

Narrator

The Toft family's name lives on at this old forest as new generations discover the area for the first time. And Miss Emma may be happy to know that Toft Point is still providing an environmental education. University of Wisconsin Green Bay students utilize the property year round for research on a variety of topics. He's like a little yellow one, see that? Oh, yeah, all right! We've kind of scratched the surface would be a good way to put it. There's much, much to be learned about this place. It's mysterious in that respect because we know it's special and we know there are interesting species here but we don't know very much about the status of these species and the interactions between those species. So, we have a great deal to learn about this really interesting place. Today, these professors and their students now have the challenge of new battles. They're not the struggles against development or lawsuits, or poaching but instead, they are to fight off invasive species that can enter the habitat and harm the numerous varieties of plants and insects.

Gary Fewless

These buds will open up and they will flower and they will produce more seeds that will then be in the soil to grow more plants in the future years. We're now at a point where there are threats to this place. Invasive species are here to stay and we're going to have to have ongoing vigilance to make sure that they don't change the environment here. I think the pressure of people loving this place to death is a very real one because there are more people in Door County now and this place has a higher visibility. And so, we have to be careful that his place isn't loved to death. We have some problems with fragmites. There has been a lot of good work done towards removing that and there are a few other invasives here but yes in general, this is in very good shape. We've been pretty vigilant. There's a good Friends group that oversees this property. When we get a species whether it's an animal species or a plant species that is not native to this particular part of the world it quite often does very, very well for itself. It reproduces much easier, it takes over areas bumping out, removing, competing with our native vegetation. It's a big concern, and it should be for any manager of any natural area in particular because that's where usually the losses are the greatest.

Narrator

Emma's great grandniece who is studying to become an environmental lawyer is quick to point out that the fight can't just be about Toft Point or The Ridges. It has to be about protecting all of Wisconsin's natural treasures.

Erin Toft Dupuy

As a new generation we have the duty to kind of rise up and preserve what is left, and kind of take action. I was very fortunate to come from a family that educated me in the beauty of the wilderness and the purpose of conserving it but others aren't that fortunate. So, I think when you start from the bottom and you give them the education, they have a reason to preserve and they have motivation to keep the land as it is.

Narrator

As the next generation takes its turn at protecting what they see as important Emma and Jens still stand tall. I think they can represent, as far as our family goes just the struggle. The struggle to hold onto land like this and the fighting the forces that come against the nature that you're trying to preserve and to keep. They certainly are symbolic of the loneliness and fighting and the strength it takes just not give up and to succumb. All of which are something that has happened throughout decades of owning this property.