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Greater Detroit American Heritage River Initiative
Protecting Unique Natural Assets and Wildlife Habitat
Man’s use of the Detroit waterfront has had a profound impact on the river’s ecology, wildlife, and natural habitats - 97% loss of natural coastal wetland habitats along the U.S. side of the Detroit River have been lost to development. Despite those losses, the Detroit River, and especially its lower reaches, remains a unique and significant wildlife area with sensitive and irreplaceable natural habitat.
 Situated at the intersection of the Atlantic and Mississippi Flyways, the Detroit River is an important migration corridor for hundreds of fish, butterfly, raptor, neo-tropical bird, and waterfowl species. The Detroit River and western Lake Erie contain extensive feeding and nesting habitats for waterfowl. An estimated three million ducks, geese, swans, and coots migrate annually through this region. And over 300,000 diving ducks stop each year to rest and feed on beds of wild celery in the lower Detroit River during their fall migration from Canada to the east and south.
A Conservation Vision: Creating North America’s Only International Wildlife Refuge
With the AHR Initiative’s help, significant progress is now being made to protect the remaining habitats as well as rehabilitate degraded ones. An excellent example is the formation and continued expansion of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge.
The AHR Initiative, in concert with Canadian and U.S. partners, developed a bi-national Conservation Vision for the Lower Detroit River that set forth a cooperative international approach to enhancing and protecting these natural assets as well as provided the foundation for creating the first international wildlife refuge In North America.
The Refuge became reality in December 2001, when President Bush signed legislation encompassing islands, coastal wetlands, marshes, shoals, and riverfront lands along 18 miles of the lower Detroit River from the mouth of the Rouge River in Detroit to Sterling State Park in Monroe County. Through cooperative management agreements and land acquisition, the Refuge has grown from 304 acres to almost 5,000 acres in five years.
© 2008 Metropolitan Affairs Coalition (MAC)
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