Greater Detroit
AHR Initiative

Leveraging Funding for River Improvement Projects

Protecting Natural Assets and Wildlife Habitat

Restoring River Shoreline

Private Sector Leadership

MAC-DRIWR Fellowship Program

Greater Detroit American Heritage River Initiative
Leveraging Funding for River Improvement Projects

MAC has a long history of working collaboratively with a variety of partners to produce tangible results.  Through the AHR Initiative, this approach has helped leverage more than $45 million for important improvement projects along the Detroit River and watershed region. In recent years, MAC has helped:

• Secure grant funding for a major stormwater and habitat development project at Tricentennial State Park in the City of Detroit, Michigan’s 97th state park and first in an urban setting.

• Obtain a grant from DTE Energy and Global Releaf for tree plantings at the Southgate Nature Area, providing park enhancements and improving wildlife habitat.

• Support the 2004 State of the Strait Conference, a bi-national conference that brought together federal, state, and local experts to discuss the methods for monitoring and improving the Detroit River ecosystem as well as identifying opportunities to more effectively communicate findings. 

MAC received national acclaim for its collaborative approach from the White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation for “outstanding leadership and personal stewardship in achieving results through cooperative conservation” in August 2005.

Generating Support for the International Wildlife Refuge
By providing technical and grant writing assistance, MAC has helped generate almost $1.8 million in support for projects directly related to the development of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. More specifically, this assistance secured the following funding: 

• A $50,000 “Green Building Initiative” Planning Grant from the Kresge Foundation for Wayne County Parks to produce LEED-certified designs for the Refuge’s Gateway Headquarters and Visitor’s Center, in turn leveraging $100,000 from the DTE Energy Foundation.  This money will be used to help develop interest in and foster LEED-certified design and construction methods and spur development of an accredited pool of LEED-certified professionals within Wayne County for subsequent phases of design and construction of the Refuge Gateway. 

• $450,000 in Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Coastal Management Funding to make wildlife habitat and drainage improvements at Monguagon Drain at the Refuge Gateway.

• A $995,000 National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Program Grant to create an ecological buffer between the Refuge Gateway site and adjoining Humbug Marsh and Island as well as rehabilitate shoreline.

• A $20,000 grant from the Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan to the City of Woodhaven for final designs of a greenway path that would complete the city’s portion of the Downriver Linked Greenways Plan and provide connections to the Detroit River and the Refuge Gateway. 

• A $75,000 grant from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan to the International Wildlife Refuge Alliance to construct an interpretative greenway trail system at Humbug Marsh.

• $170,000 in funding from the Great Lakes Fishery Trust for the engineering and design of a new fishing pier and boat dock at the Refuge Gateway.