A coalition of conservation groups faces a December 2026 deadline to raise $6 million to permanently protect Sibley Prairie, a 440-acre lakeplain prairie in Brownstown Township in southern Wayne County. The Michigan Land Conservancy is leading the effort. Planet Detroit, which has covered the campaign since 2025, reported this week on the coalition's expanded membership and the narrowing window.
Sibley Prairie is described by the Michigan Land Conservancy as the state's largest and highest-quality remnant of lakeplain prairie still standing. Lakeplain prairies are the remnants of ancient glacial lake beds, left behind as glaciers receded from the Great Lakes region thousands of years ago. The site holds more than 150 acres of wetlands and 15 rare plant species. It is the kind of ecosystem that does not come back once it is developed.
The coalition holds a purchase option on the land, secured through a $1 million loan from a private individual. As of mid-February 2026, the group had raised a little more than $500,000 toward the $6 million purchase price. Brownstown Township has applied for a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant that, if approved, could cover around 75 percent of the purchase cost. The coalition's full fundraising goal is $9.7 million, which would cover the purchase, restoration costs, and a long-term maintenance endowment.
The coalition includes the Michigan Land Conservancy, Michigan Bird Alliance, Friends of the Rouge, the Michigan Botanical Society, Sierra Club, and Ducks Unlimited. Late last year, the Detroit-based Black To The Land Coalition joined the effort, adding a community access dimension to a campaign that had focused primarily on ecological preservation.
The Black To The Land Coalition focuses on connecting Black and Indigenous Detroit-area residents to land and natural spaces. Its co-founder, Antonio Cosme, told Planet Detroit he sees Sibley as a potential learning destination for students from the city.
"I want Detroit high school students to be out there one day field tripping, studying, learning," Cosme told Planet Detroit. "Because we deserve to have access to these high quality ecosystems."
Cosme co-founded the Black To The Land Coalition to address what its members call the nature gap: the disparity in access to parks and green space between predominantly Black urban neighborhoods and other communities.
The prairie sits about 20 miles southwest of Detroit in Brownstown Township. No public transit reaches the site. Conservation would eventually allow for managed trails and public educational access. Cosme's vision for student field trips depends on that infrastructure being built, which requires funding separate from the $6 million land purchase.
The December 2026 deadline is firm. If the coalition cannot close the $6 million gap, the purchase option expires and the land becomes available to developers. Lakeplain prairie does not return once it is paved.
Planet Detroit, an independent nonprofit newsroom focused on environmental reporting in Michigan, has reported on the Sibley effort across multiple pieces since 2025. The April 28 article focuses on the coalition's expanded membership and the remaining fundraising challenge.
