Fermi 2 Power Plant

About the Program
DTE Energy Company’s Fermi 2 Power Plant is located in southeastern Michigan, just south of Detroit along the shores of Lake Erie, and supports the conservation of 656 acres of prairie and wetland habitat and several avian species. The site connects the International Wildlife Refuge along the shoreline, and management activities are closely coordinated with the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), especially with respect to bald eagle nests and osprey platforms. The company aims to create and support wildlife-friendly habitat by providing a migratory bird stopover as well as nesting structures along the Detroit River and Lake Erie, and includes a wet prairie community of blue-joint and reed canary grass; phragmites; and wildflowers such as boneset, grass-leaved goldenrod, swamp milkweed and spotted Joe-pye weed.

Practices and Impacts

• In the past few years, the wildlife team has been working closely with the USFWS International Wildlife Refuge as a part of their Cooperative Weed Management Agreement (which includes the Nature Conservancy, DNR and USFWS) to map, monitor and spray invasive phragmites in the coastal wetlands along the Lake Erie shoreline.
• Bird and bat boxes are placed around the site in areas where the targeted species are found. Eagle nests are located in areas of low disturbance where reproducing will not be affected, and osprey platforms provide safe nesting habitat compared to cell-phone towers and active power lines where they have been seen to nest. The surrounding wetland, grassland and forest habitat provides shelter, space, food and water for the targeted species of birds.
• The team monitors osprey and eagle nests throughout the year and had successful nests each year between 2017-2021.
• A winter deer herd survey conducted in coordination with the DNR resulted in 56 deer observed in February 2017, 44 deer in 2018, and 51 deer in 2019. The site is also used regularly by many different species of wildlife as over-wintering and breeding habitat. 
• The Christmas Bird Count has consistently shown a species diversity of ducks and gulls as well as over-wintering seed-eating birds, indicating there is adequate food in the prairie and wetlands to sustain them.
• The team also documents wildlife observations throughout the prairie and shoreline habitats, which supports a broad range of mammal and avian species.
• This project involves a wide range of partnerships. USFWS supports prairie management, banding of the bald eagles and issues with injured peregrines and bald eagles that are found on-site and rehabilitated. The project works with USFWS for annual flyovers to inspect bald eagle nests and works with DNR or Michigan Osprey for osprey banding. DTE Energy coordinates and participates in the annual Christmas Bird Count, in which Audubon Volunteers and Lake Erie Birding Association are also involved.