The Ile Camera
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Manager has high hopes for refuge
By Sean Dalton, Heritage Newspapers
PUBLISHED: March 9, 2007
GIBRALTAR — Walking down a freshly shorn path through the stark trees and shrubbery of Humbug Marsh — stripped by the belated winter cold — provides a vista worthy of a painter's brush.
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The path starts at the east side of West Jefferson Avenue, cuts straight through and then meanders along the Frank and Poet Drain, ending at a patch of waterfront with a clear view of Humbug Island.
That small circular swath of ground recently was cleared for an observation deck that will be one of the first public opportunities for regular nature learning at Humbug Marsh.
"It's amazing," said John Hartig, manager of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. "I could cover (someone's) eyes, bring them here and they wouldn't know they were in Michigan after I took away my hands."
Refuge officials are planning to have construction of the deck completed by May 12 — which is International Migratory Bird Day — for a ribbon-cutting ceremony, refuge officials said.
A driving tour brochure for bird watchers is being headed up by Mary Bohling and other volunteers, and it will be issued for the first time at the ceremony. The observation deck is a major site in the brochure's list of birding spots.
"We are up to 28 sites that were identified on both sides of the river," Bohling said. "They range from grasslands and prairies to forested areas and shorelines."
From the deck site, visitors can swivel and lay eyes on virtually every major development that Michigan wildlife advocates have been talking about for years.
The Frank and Poet, which will see some restoration work to bring it back to its natural state as a microcosm for many insects, aquatic creatures and the birds that rely on them for sustenance, is north and west of the clearing.
In the same direction, a spot has been earmarked for the visitor center that will provide even more interpretation of the surrounding woods, marsh and riverbanks and will act as a nexus for related activities.
The northern portion of Humbug Island, thrusting up against the Detroit River, will provide an environment for species such as the re-emerging whitefish to spawn, as the water flows down the eastern and western shores of the island, providing natural aeration and oxygenation for payloads of eggs.
Finally, to the south sprawls the bulk of Humbug's shoreline and wooded areas that span acres and acres.
Supporters and volunteers hope that educational opportunities such as the observation deck, which will be designed with a maximum weight capacity of "one classroom," will foster an appreciation for one of the region's most valuable non-renewable resources — the wetlands that cannot be re-created by man.
"This is going to be a great opportunity for students," Hartig said. "There will be interpretive signs, a voice box and a viewing scope."
Janae' Reneaud, an Eastern Michigan University graduate student, has been working as an intern for the Greater Detroit American Heritage River Initiative and the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge on behalf of the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition. The deck is her major project.
Reneaud said the deck work will begin this month. In the meantime, those involved are shoring up tools and materials.
"We're going to get quotes (on materials) from different places," Reneaud said. "I prefer local sources."
The deck will be constructed of both new and recycled lumber, she said.
Reneaud said the deck should be one of the jewels of the birding brochure's rundown of locations, due to the wild celery in the marsh that is sure to attract diving ducks that eat the plant's roots.
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