Returning the City to Wilderness

BrooklynDodger recently reported siting a coyote down by the Detroit riverfront. There is vacant land in Detroit on which stuff is now being built. But other areas are returning to prairie, or whatever was here before settlement.

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Metro Detroit

Natural lands flourish with GM as the gardener

Habitat council certifies sites in Detroit, Warren

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER BY HUGH McDIARMID JR.

The Wildlife Habitat Council recognized General Motors Corp. for creating natural habitats such as these native grasses along the RiverWalk in Detroit. At the Renaissance Center, the certification applies to the front and rear of the building complex. (Photos by MANDI WRIGHT/Detroit Free Press)

They are havens from the concrete jungle, sanctuaries of softness in a hardened landscape and a way station for bugs, birds, bees, picnickers, walkers and anglers.

Two patches of newly restored natural lands on General Motors Corp. properties -- in Warren and alongside the Renaissance Center in Detroit -- were certified this month by the Wildlife Habitat Council for fostering ecological diversity.

They expand to 40 the number of council certifications in Michigan. They include places like BASF Corp.'s Fighting Island in the Detroit River and several lands owned by DTE Energy and GM rival Ford.