“All nature is doing her best each moment to make us well… Do not resist her.” ~ Henry David Thoreau
We came into existence to protect Sibley Prairie for the plants and animals that depend on this marvelous oasis in the city, and for the people – that’s all of us – who depend on nature.
Our Coalition partners are combining their expertise, networks, and resources to ensure that the woods, wetlands, and largest remaining lakeplain prairie in Michigan are permanently safeguarded for future generations. To save Sibley Prairie we must raise funds to buy, restore, and permanently protect the remaining 440-acre parcel.
If we fail, this precious landscape will be gone forever.
Sibley Prairie is worth saving because…
More than 200 years ago, southern Michigan’s vast meadows were alive with movement — waves of tall grasses, clouds of wildflowers, and even herds of American bison roaming freely across Wayne County. Just picture that!
Right now, the endless urban cacophony is softened by the soundscape of bees buzzing, crickets chirping, and birds singing across Sibley Prairie.
Sibley Prairie is not just “land.” It’s one of Michigan’s most irreplaceable natural treasures. Located in Brownstown Township in Wayne County, Sibley Prairie is the last of its kind. Other lands like it have long since been lost to farming and development. This campaign is our only chance to permanently protect it.
In coming together to save Sibley Prairie, we envision a place where people and nature thrive together, a rare and vibrant landscape in densely populated Metro Detroit
Our vision for people:
In a region where millions lack access to meaningful green space, especially in Wayne County and Detroit, Sibley Prairie will offer close-to-home woods and wetlands that will support mental and physical health, inspire children with wonder, and reconnect communities to the natural world.
Our vision for flora and fauna:
Sibley Prairie is not an empty expanse. It’s a living, breathing community, an intricate society of grasses, wildflowers, pollinators, birds and other animals, and unseen life belowground that has taken thousands of years to evolve.
Protecting Sibley Prairie will safeguard one of Michigan’s most extraordinary ecosystems, where deep-rooted plants, rare species, and converging migratory pathways come together in a landscape that we simply cannot rebuild if we lose it.
Save Sibley Prairie Coalition 