Pitcher's thistle rosette at Whitefish Dunes State Park in Door County, Wisconsin (photo by Carolyn Rock, WDNR).

Whitefish Dunes State Park in Door County, Wisconsin, supports the state's largest population of Pitcher’s thistle, a federally threatened plant.  On September 12, 2007, Mandie Bodart, a volunteer with the Green Bay Ecological Service’s Field Office, participated in a Pitcher’s thistle survey at Whitefish Dunes.  The survey was coordinated by Carolyn Rock of the Wisconsin DNR.  Mandie helped with the thistle count by recording the number of seedling, juvenile, and adult plants present.  In total, 9,641 Pitcher’s thistles were found at Whitefish Dunes in 2007.