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The River
Bringing
Back Belle Isle
Many
people who grew up in Detroit have fond memories of Belle Isle—a
982 acre island park
in the northern Detroit River. Residents came to canoe through the
island's scenic canals
and fish from the banks. In recent decades, however, popularity
has waned, as Eurasian milfoil and other aquatic weeds have gradually
choked the canals.
Beginning in
1992, the City of Detroit took action to rehabilitate the park s
waterways. Workers cleared the nuisance vegetation, dredged the
main channels and installed new pumps to move water through the
canal system. The revitalized canals allow yellow perch, northern
pike and other fish from the Detroit River to enter and spawn in
the island's largest lagoon — supplying habitat for fish as
well as recreational opportunities for anglers. The city expects
to begin renting canoes once again.
Indoors,
plans call for a Great Lakes Educational Exhibit at the Belle Isle
Nature Center. The Detroit Recreation Department is developing a
detailed interpretive plan for the exhibit, with assistance from
Michigan Sea Grant Extension
The exhibit
will include an interactive element for elementary and middle school
children. Total cost of the project is estimated at $112,000, with
$30,000 provided by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
Coastal Zone Management Program.
Friends of
Belle Isle
Aerial Tour
Avid sailors and native Detroiters Jim Hebert and Chris Wilson
have traveled the Great Lakes extensively.
Here is
Jim's aerial tour of the Detroit River, combined with his
observations.
Click here to take a quick sightseeing tour of the Detroit
River.
Read about the River
in
an atlas prepared under
an EPA Grant:
River Atlas
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