Habitat for fish and wildlife was once abundant in the Detroit River. An 1815 map shows contiguous, coastal wetlands up to a mile (1.6 km) wide along both sides of the Detroit River for nearly its entire 32-mile (51 km) length (Figure 1; wetlands highlighted in green).

In 1992, the Detroit River Remedial Action Plan (RAP) identified habitat loss as an impaired water use to the Detroit River that must be remediated before the river could be delisted as an Area of Concern (MDNR, 1992). Habitat loss has been attributed to shoreline development. A productive aquatic ecosystem, that during the arrival of Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac in 1701 teemed with fish, waterfowl, and wildlife, has been transformed into a commercial shipping channel lined with concrete, boat slips, and industrial development. The once numerous lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) that were considered a nuisance and navigation hazard have diminished to “threatened” status in Michigan. Lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) historically spawned in the Detroit River and were so plentiful that a fulltime fishery operating on Grassy Island harvested 45,000 adult whitefish per year. Today, lake whitefish are rarely found in the river and Grassy Island is a confined disposal facility for dredge soils (Manny, 1998). Overfishing and industrial development have decimated fish and wildlife populations, including birds of prey. Among them, bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) have been absent from the riverfront for decades. Even with significant population rebounds across the nation after DDT was banned in 1973, bald eagles are few on the river. Millions of migrating waterfowl still frequent the lower Detroit River, sustained by beds of wild celery (Vallisneria americana) that nourish them and replenish their energy reserves. But even this vital resource has diminished in size and abundance from the levels of fifty years ago (Schloesser and Manny, 1990). Disappearing habitat has caused losses of valuable species and declines of fish and wildlife in the Detroit River.

Human land use, including its factories, homes, parking lots, boat slips and seawalls, has reduced fish and wildlife species indigenous to the Detroit River. The 32-mile shoreline of the Detroit River is now often paved right up to the waterfront (Figure 3). Little natural earthen shore and few undeveloped parcels exist along the riverfront. In 2000, in response to the highest priority recommendations formulated both in a RAP report (MDEQ,1996) and at an international conference (Tulen et al.,1998), the USEPA funded the USGS to identify candidate sites for habitat protection and remediation in Michigan waters of the Detroit River. The work was then performed concurrently with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Michigan Sea Grant, Grosse Ile Nature and Land Conservancy, and the Army Corps of Engineers. Candidate sites were defined operationally as parcels of vacant, riparian land visible on 1996 aerial photographs of the river. Some of the parcels contained fish spawning or waterfowl rearing habitat.

This inventory complements a previous survey of habitat in Ontario waters of the Detroit River (OMNR,1993). It is a starting point for balanced and sustained use of the river for natural resource conservation and economic development. The objectives of the inventory were to: (1) locate candidate sites for protection and restoration of fish and wildlife habitat in Michigan waters of the Detroit River; (2) describe the ownership and size of each site, as well as its potential for habitat protection and restoration; and (3) subjectively assess the extent to which existing habitat along the river is productive of fish and wildlife and protected from land uses that have degraded or destroyed such habitat.