Size: 307 acres

Location: Spider Lake, Sawyer County

Habitat Types: Quality mixed conifer and hardwood forest, lakeshore, wetlands, tamarack bog.

Conservation Value: Wildlife habitat, natural shore land (all but 130 feet of Lewis Lake), woods, protects water quality of Lewis Lake

 

Protection: Donated Conservation Easement held by Bayfield Regional Conservancy

 

Description: property surrounds all but 130 feet of a 59-acre lake primarily by white pine, red pine and balsam fir interspersed with tamarack bog. The dominant trees on the upland portions of property are white and red pine, large leaf and quaking poplar, red maple, red oak, balsam fir and paper birch. The area has not benn logged since the early 1900’s. Understory trees and shrubs are primarily maple leaf viburnum, ironwood and hazelenut in the uplands, and labrador tea, bog rosemary and leatherwood in the wetland areas.

Herbaceous plants include Canada mayflower, rattlesnake plaintain, gaywings, pipsissawa, Indian Pipe, moccasin flower and wintergreen among many others.

There is separate small bog lake surrounded by spaghnum moss with pitcher plants, black spruce, cranberries, sundews and bog orchids including grass pink, rose pogonia and arethusa.

The lake has no inlet and is spring fed. There is an outlet that eventually forms a creek flowing north to Lost Land Lake. The lake supports a healthy fish population - mainly sunfish, perch, small mouth bass and various species of minnows.

There is always a pair of resident loons in the summer, and for the last thirty years nineteen young loons have fledged from Lewis Lake. Many other birds nest here including kingbirds, tree swallows, kingfishers, ruffed grouse, barred owls and blackburnian warblers. Bald eagles and ospreys frequent the lake and a large number of ducks utilize it as a resting place during migration. Black bear, otter, fisher, mink, beaver, flying squirrels, badger and woodchucks are among the mammals observed.