Contacts
Gary Muehlenhardt (612)713-5477
gary_muehlenhardt@fws.gov
Joe Robison (734)379-9692
robisnj@michigan.gov
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has released for
public review and comment a draft of the Comprehensive Conservation Plan
and Environmental Assessment for the Detroit River International Wildlife
Refuge. The Service and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources will
host an open house next month in Trenton, Mich., to accept comments on the
draft plan and answer questions from the public about the plan. The draft
Comprehensive Conservation Plan presents management alternatives for the
refuge, including fish and wildlife habitat protection priorities and partnership
opportunities, and will serve as a guide for the refuge through the next
15 years.
The open house will be held July 13, 2004 from 4 p.m. to 8
p.m. at the Westfield Community Center, 2700 Westfield, Trenton, Mich., (next
to the Trenton Library). Interested citizens may stop by any time and stay
as long as they wish.
The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge was established
by Public Law 107-91 on Dec. 21, 2002. The refuge is the first international
refuge in North America, and will conserve, protect and restore habitat for
29 species of waterfowl, 65 kinds of fish and 300 species of migratory birds
along the lower Detroit River in Michigan and Canada. The Detroit River has
also been recognized as both an American and Canadian Heritage River; the
first such international designation in North America. The authorized refuge
boundary includes islands, coastal wetlands, marshes, shoals and shore lands
along 48 miles of the Lower Detroit River and Lake Erie shoreline to the
Ohio border.
Written comments on the draft plan are due by July 23, 2004
and can submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Conservation Planning,
1 Federal Drive, Fort Snelling, Minnesota 55111, Attention: Gary Muehlenhardt.
Comments may also be sent through the Service’s Planning website at http://midwest.fws.gov/planning/detroitriver/index.html
The complete draft plan and a summary can be viewed on the
Internet at the address above. Paper copies of the draft Plan and/or compact
disks are available in limited supply by making a request through the website
or by calling toll free 1-800-247-1247. Disk copies of the draft plan, in
portable document format (.pdf) are also available for viewing at 14 libraries
throughout the refuge area.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal
agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife
and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American
people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge
System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small
wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national
fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services
field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the
Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally
significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands,
and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation
efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes
hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment
to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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