• 440 acres of Sibley Prairie in Wayne County, a unique lakeplain prairie with rare plants, had been listed for auction, putting it at risk of being developed
• It’s estimated only 1% of lakeplain prairie that originally existed in Michigan still remains
• Fritz Enterprises, the business that owns the land, took it off the auction site and is giving preservationists until the end of the year to buy it for $6 million

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The clock is ticking to preserve a portion of rare land in Brownstown Township near Detroit. 

A large chunk of the area known as Sibley Prairie, equal to about half the size of Detroit’s Belle Isle, was recently listed for auction, putting the land and the unique plants found there at risk of development. 

Now, environmental groups have struck a deal with the company that owns the land to buy it for preservation, but they only have until the end of the year to raise millions of dollars to buy and protect it.

A few portions of Sibley Prairie are already protected, including two parcels — one 3 acres and the other 38.8 acres — managed by Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy. 

“This is the largest piece remaining and the highest quality piece within the remaining lakeplain prairie area,” said Jack Smiley, president of the Michigan Land Conservancy, which is representing a group of environmentalists hoping to buy the land. “It’s really in Detroit’s backyard and people can come from all over the state to come down and see and enjoy this place.”

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As of mid-February, Smiley said, the groups had raised a little more than half a million dollars toward the $6 million purchase price. In all, the group hopes to raise $9.7 million so it can also restore parts of the prairie and create an endowment for future maintenance.

The whole Sibley Prairie area, which is larger than what’s for sale, extends for a few square miles. The landscape is classified as lakeplain prairie — flat, lowlying land on the outskirts of a lake, left behind by retreating glaciers more than 10,000 years ago. This type of prairie is considered globally imperiled. 

In Michigan, it used to be commonly found in Berrien County near Lake Michigan and on the shores of Lake Huron, from Saginaw Bay down to Monroe County. These days, the Michigan Natural Features Inventory estimates only 1% of what was once in the state remains.

“It is really a special piece of land,” said Jennifer Harper, a biology lecturer at Eastern Michigan University. “We don’t have a lot of places like that in southeast Michigan left that are relatively untouched by humans.” 

As a lakeplain prairie, Sibley Prairie is prone to flood cycles. It gets very wet in the spring and dries up in the summer, which only select plants can tolerate. 

As a result, the area hosts more than a dozen rare plants, including Vasey’s rush and tall green milkweed, which are threatened and legally protected in Michigan. Songbirds, frogs and six of Michigan’s nine species of bats can also be found on the prairie. Beyond providing habitat for plants and animals, Sibley Prairie helps reduce nearby flooding and the plants on it help take carbon dioxide out of the air.

Fritz Enterprises, a scrap metal recycling business that shreds cars, started acquiring parcels of the prairie in the late 1970s.

“My grandfather, who is the founder of the business, got asked by Brownstown years ago to buy the property to protect it,” said Len Fritz, the current president of the Brownstown-based business. “People were dumping there and motorcycle gangs were beating people up there, is the story I was told.” 

Over the years, the company acquired around 440 acres of Sibley Prairie, primarily located between Sibley and King roads, bordered by Telegraph Road to the east and train tracks that bisect the block to the west. 

At one point, the company ran a rock-crushing plant on part of the land. That operation closed a couple decades ago, according to Fritz.

“The only thing still there from the site is concrete footing and bins where we stored material in,” he said. 

Most of the land remains relatively untouched prairie.

In 2023, Fritz Enterprises listed its Sibley Prairie parcels for sale. Then, last year, the company put the land on an auction site called lastbidrealestate.com. 

That’s when Smiley, of the Michigan Land Conservancy, approached Fritz Enterprises. He wondered if a loose coalition of environmental organizations he represented could buy the 440 acres. 

Fritz Enterprises agreed to sell the groups the land if they could pay $1 million for an option to purchase, plus $5 million more by the end of this year. 

“We felt that it would probably be the easiest way to go about doing it as opposed to developing it,” Fritz said.

The coalition borrowed $1 million from a private individual for the option to purchase and is working to raise that plus the remaining $5 million to buy the land. It’s also hoping to raise an additional $3.7 million to restore parts of the land, make it open to the public and create an endowment fund to maintain it. 

“It’s amazing what can survive in this urbanized area,” Smiley said. “It’s important that we’re protecting it, not just for the land, but for the people. 

“If this is lost, it’s lost forever,” he added.

In addition to seeking donations, the environmental groups are working with Brownstown Township to apply for a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant. The program leverages money from state-owned oil, gas and minerals that can be used to purchase land for conservation and outdoor recreation projects.

Brownstown Township Manager Brian Peters said he recognizes that, by preserving that portion of Sibley Prairie, the township could lose out on the tax dollars that would come in if parts of it were developed. 

But he’s not worried about that.

“This makes an attraction where people will be coming here and recreating here and those adjacent sites become more desirable for development without disrupting the important habitat that’s on this particular site,” he said.

Peters said the details of the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant application were still being finalized. The township plans to hold a public hearing on the plan and a resolution to submit the grant application at the next township board meeting at 6 pm March 16. 

Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant applications are due April 1. 

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