Detroit Rivers Mud To Be Added To National Wildlife Refuge System

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has announced their intention to accept the donation of 18 acre Mud Island, located near Ecorse, Michigan, by National Steel Corporation. Acting Service Director, Marshall Jones authorized the potential refuge addition on January 5, 2001. After normal real estate procedures, including a land survey, the will become part of the adjacent Wyandotte National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), which currently totals 304 acres. A notice of the Wyandotte NWR expansion was published in the January 16, 2001, Federal Register. Wyandotte NWR is managed by the staff of the Shiawassee NWR in Saginaw, Mich.

Regional Director of the Services Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, William Hartwig, who oversees NWRs in Michigan, welcomed the addition of the to the Refuge System. "As part of the 93 million acre National Wildlife Refuge System, Mud and the shallow shoals associated with it will now benefit migratory birds and fish forever," Hartwig said, noting that the lies within one of the United States most historically significant staging areas for diving ducks like canvasback and scaup.

Hartwig lauded the efforts of National Steel Corporation, Congressman John Dingell, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, American Heritage River Initiative representative John Hartig, and Ecorse city officials for setting up the transfer. "It helped a great deal to have local support for this transfer," said Hartwig, adding that given the location and resource value of the "it makes sense to include it as part of the Refuge System."

As part of the National Wildlife Refuge System, Mud will be managed to benefit wildlife and provide opportunities for other wildlife-dependent uses, such as hunting, fishing, wildlife observation and photography. Once the transfer is completed, the Service also intends to examine lake sturgeon utilization of the 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 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 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 governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.

For further information about programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our website at http://midwest.fws.gov