Huron River
A candidate for improved protection status
The Huron River emerges in southeastern Michigan in Springfield Township near Big Lake, flowing roughly 125 miles through a variety of landscapes. From densely wooded banks to current and former mill sites and mill dam impoundments; through scenic villages such as Milford, and larger cities like Dexter, Ann Arbor, and Ypsilanti; and finally opening up through rolling farmland before it empties into Lake Erie. Two million people live within roughly ten miles of the river, but when you are on the river you wouldn’t hardly believe it.
The river is known for its fishing, recreation, and Native American village sites. It provides for a wide range of quality gamefish species such as smallmouth and largemouth bass, trout, and steelhead. The Huron River Water Trail, a part of the National Water Trails System, provides an exceptional 104-mile long water-based recreational opportunity for paddling, fishing, and hiking through a significant number of public access sites.
Building on the success of the Water Trail, many of the communities along the river have committed themselves to improving their relationships to the river. These communities are engaged in conservation and access projects that are helping to improve the health of the river and ensuring residents nearby have access to it, regardless of their socio-economic status. With a long history of projects, the Lower Huron River Watershed Council, which represents many of the communities along the lower part of the river, has been championing restoration efforts, including assessing and/or pursuing removal of outdated dams, such as the Flat Rock and Peninsular Park dams.
The Huron is currently designated as the only Country-Scenic Michigan Natural River, a state river protection program administered by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. We believe that the Huron could benefit greatly from a national “Partnership” Wild and Scenic River designation based on our analysis and discussions with local community members.
Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers are a unique category of designated rivers managed through long-term partnerships between the National Park Service and local, regional, and state stakeholders. This locally driven, collaborative planning and management approach to river conservation is an effective model anchored by annual federal funding put into the hands of local community members. Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers program has a 20+ year track record of successful partnerships, with 18 designated rivers in 8 states covering more than 700 river miles. (Source NPS.)
American Rivers is excited to work with our local partners in Michigan to explore studying the Huron River for Partnership River status. This status would help support the many successful programs on the Huron River. We are especially grateful for the support of Michigan’s representatives in the U.S. Congress, including U.S. Senator Peters and U.S. Representative Dingell who have been river champions and who’s staff have expressed support for the Partnership Program and are interested in exploring opportunities to assess the Huron River.