The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that they have accepted the donation of 21-acre Mud Island, located in the Detroit River near Ecorse, Michigan into the National Wildlife Refuge System. The donation was made by National Steel Corporation. Mud will be added to the adjacent 304-acre Wyandotte National Wildlife Refuge and become part of the 93 million acre Refuge System. Wyandotte NWR is managed by the staff of the Shiawassee NWR in Saginaw, Mich.
In a short ceremony commemorating the transfer of the island, Regional Service Director Bill Hartwig, was joined by representatives from National Steel, the U.S. Coast Guard, Michigan Senator Debby Stabenow and Congressman John Dingell. Hartwig, who oversees Service operations in eight Midwestern states, including Michigan, welcomed the addition of the island to the Refuge System. "Every acre of the National Wildlife Refuge System is important to wildlife," Hartwig said. "But refuge land is important to people too, because we all need wild places. And we know protecting these places is a job the Service cant do alone, so it was very heartening to see a company like National Steel and our other partners work together to make the Mud donation a reality."
"Mud 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, American Heritage River Initiative representative John Hartig, and other local partners for their support of the transfer.
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 535 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.
