DRIWR Boasts New Icon

When bicyclists, walkers and joggers visit the Refuge Gateway in Trenton, they will pass a towering new steel wildlife sculpture that depicts the ecological recovery and biodiversity of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge (IWR).

As part of DTE Energy’s commitment to the environment and sustainability, DTE employees first erected a 12-foot wildlife sculpture at the entrance of its River Rouge Power Plant. Based on the overwhelming positive feedback on that project, DTE Energy employees approached staff of the Detroit River IWR to see if they might be interested in a similar wildlife sculpture at the Refuge Gateway in Trenton. Refuge staff jumped at the opportunity and immediately began working with DTE employees to design a four-sided, 16-foot piece of art that will welcome thousands of projected annual visitors to North America’s only international wildlife refuge.

Whether entering the Refuge on a greenway trail to enjoy the new Visitor Center, fishing off a 775-foot pier (soon to come), boarding the Great Lakes school ship, kayaking in the marsh, bird watching from observation decks, or hiking in Michigan’s only “Wetland of International Importance,” visitors will be able to see the wildlife sculpture. It might best be described as a Christmas tree-shaped sculpture made of three-eighth-inch-thick steel. Upon closer look, you will see lake sturgeon and walleye at the bottom, cattails, turtles, dragonflies, woodpeckers and blue heron as you move up the symbolic food web, and bald eagles as top predators at the pinnacle.

The Detroit River IWR incorporates 5,800 acres along 48 miles of the Detroit River and

Western Lake Erie. The Refuge focuses on conserving, protecting, and restoring habitat for 29

species of waterfowl, 23 species of raptors, 31 species of shorebirds, over 100 species of fish,

and over 300 species of birds. It is the first international refuge in North America and one of the

few urban ones. Unique habitats being managed for conservation include islands, coastal

wetlands, marshes, shoals, and waterfront lands. The Western Lake Erie Watersheds Priority

Natural Area is the institutional mechanism for Canadian federal, provincial, and local partners

to cooperatively work with U.S. partners on the International Wildlife Refuge.

Get Outdoors Downriver.