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.
