Bibon Swamp, the largest wetland in Bayfield County, occupies the basin of an extinct glacial lake drained by the White River, a hard, cold water trout stream. The community types of this 15-square mile lowland are unusually varied for such a topographically uniform basin. Portions are forested with a rich wet-mesic conifer swamp of medium-sized white cedar, although trunk coring revealed that at least parts of the stand are in excess of 150 years old. Bunchberry, twinflower, small bishop's-cap and a number of orchid species are representative of the groundlayer here. Resident birds include Nashville, parula, and Canada warblers, and winter wren. Bordering the cedar swamp is wet forest dominated by black ash, with a groundlayer of speckled alder, sensitive fern, wood nettle and poison ivy. Black and white warbler, veery, and red-eyed vireo are common nesting birds. North of the river conditions are very different, with a large complex of peatland communities including open bog, spruce-tamarack muskeg, and black spruce swamp. Deep sphagnum hummocks form a continuous ground cover upon which ericaceous shrubs grow including leather-leaf, bog laurel, and Labrador-tea. Birds found in these coniferous peatlands include palm warbler, yellow-bellied flycatcher, boreal chickadee, and sharp-shinned hawk. Vast shrub swamps composed of slender willow, red-osier dogwood, and speckled alder, blanket portions of the wetland. Other communities of lesser areal extent include northern sedge meadow composed of Carex species and blue-joint grass, and patches of riparian woodlands, dominated by American elm, green ash, and red maple, along the White River. The area supports a variety of rare plants and animals, including three state-threatened species: wood turtle, sheathed pondweed (Potamogeton vaginatus), and sweet colt's-foot (Petasites sagittatus). Other rare species found here are great gray owl, bald eagle, osprey, and showy lady's slipper (Cypripedium reginae). Bibon Swamp is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 1992.
