Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge
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The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) is the only international wildlife refuge in North America. The Refuge includes islands, coastal wetlands, marshes, shoals, and waterfront lands along 48 miles of the Detroit River and Western Lake Erie shoreline. Its location is unique, situated in the heart of a major metropolitan area. Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge is one of over 540 National Wildlife Refuges managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within the Department of the Interior.
The Refuge was originally established in 1961 by an act of congress introduced by Congressman John Lesinski, Jr. of Wyandotte, as the Wyandotte National Wildlife Refuge and consisted of two islands, Grassy and Mamajuda, and the shallow water shoals around the islands. On December 21, 2001, the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge was established and the Wyandotte National Wildlife Refuge was absorbed into it and expanded to include a much larger boundary from Zug Island at the mouth of the River Rouge in Wayne County to Sterling State Park in Monroe County. A year later the Refuge was expanded further south to the Michigan-Ohio Border. Both of these expansions were initiated by legislation introduced by Congressman John D. Dingell of Dearborn.
The Refuge properties include the 465-acre Humbug Marsh Complex, the Brancheau Tract on Lake Erie and several islands in the Detroit River:
- Grassy Island, the largest in the refuge at 72 acres, designated a hazardous waste site
- Mud Island, 18.5 acres
- Calf Island, 11 acres
- Mamajuda Island, only above water during years with low water levels
The Refuge also owns the shoals around these islands and has entered into cooperative agreements with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Detroit Edison, a local electricity company, to manage hundreds of acres of habitat on Lake Erie. Within the authorized boundaries of the Refuge are several existing parks including Elizabeth Park, Sterling State Park, Lake Erie Metropark, as well as Pointe Mouillee State Game Area and Erie State Game Area.
Being the confluence of two migratory flyways, the Mid-Atlantic and the Mississippi Flyways, this Refuge host millions of migratory waterfowl each year, particularly diving ducks, as well as tens of thousands of shorebirds, raptors and song birds that rest and feed on wild celery during their biannual migrations. Common duck species include canvasback, wood ducks, mallards, blue-winged teal, common merganser, American black and scaup. Other birds occurring in the refuge include Canada geese, bald eagle ring-necked pheasants, bob-white quail, swallows, red-winged blackbirds, gulls, terns, tundra swans, trumpeter swans, American woodcock, common loons, and belted kingfishers.
Many species of mammals are also found within the Refuge ecosystem. Common species include muskrat, mink, raccoon, eastern cottontail rabbit, woodchuck, opossum, striped skunk, white-tailed deer, coyote, gray fox, fox squirrel, and several mole and mice species. The threatened spotted turtle was recorded in an inventory in 1997.
The threatened lake sturgeon has a small population in the Refuge. Other cooperative efforts on the Refuge include the construction of sturgeon spawning reefs with the support of BASF Corporation, US Geological Survey and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. More than 10 million walleye, white bass, steelhead, and salmon migrate through the Detroit River each year and attract many sport fishers to the refuge.
