Pêche Island
by Jamie Halpin
The following article appeared in the Windsor Star
in June of 1995
I have recently learned that there has been a proposal to drop Pêche Island as a provincial park. I have been unable to obtain any details on this but I do know that Pêche Island must remain a public park regardless of who will operate it.
I have been a frequent visitor of the island since I was a small child and I have conducted research on the island for two of my university courses. I know the unforgettable feeling of being completely surrounded by wilderness while looking over the tree tops to the sky scrapers of Detroit. I know about the 22 species of rare plants and two rare species of reptiles found on the island. I know how the marsh traps nutrients from the island and the Detroit River allowing for lush growth of aquatic vegetation, fish, and wildlife. I know how a walk from the western to the eastern tip of the island allows you to follow the succession of plant life from the first plants taking hold on the sands deposited by the river to the near climax Carolinian Forest (rare in Canada). I know that one must tread lightly on the sand ridges held in place along the shore by the dense Cottonwoods.
I know that the City of Windsor is short of parkland although it presently has two provincial parks (Pêche Island, and Ojibway Prairie) within its boundaries. I know the Great Lakes Institute conducts research and education on the island. I know that locals enjoy fishing on the shoal off the island, canoeing through the canals, and walking through the woods. I know first hand what it means to a child to walk through the woods and find the mysterious Hiram Walker ruins or a Tarzan vine.I have walked the trails of Pêche Island from the days when the western tip of the island held the Canadian/U.S. boarder marker, to the days when flooding made a walk from tip to tip of the island a genuine Indiana Jones adventure. I have seen many of the bridges interconnecting the trails destroyed. I was sad as I watched the stream under the bridge at the southeast corner of the island where I played as a child fill in with a beach. Then I saw aerial photographs showing the erosion that the gap had caused in the canals and I was glad it was gone. I have even had the opportunity to spend the night on the island with the Great Lakes Institute (a privilege not extended to the public). Who would have believed that we were only minutes from the bustling downtowns of Windsor and Detroit.
Jacques-Yves Cousteau once said, "I want to fight until I'm stricken stiff on the spot... Fight for what? For the world, for life, for happiness, for clean air, songs, birds in the air, fish in the sea." Pêche Island contains a wealth of life, gives happiness to the people who visit it, its trees provide clean air, its birds provide songs, and its forests and marsh provide birds in air and fishes in the sea.If Pêche Island is in fact dropped as a provincial park the people of Windsor must fight to make sure that the island remains a park whether operated by E.R.C.A. or the City of Windsor.
Pêche Island must not be allowed to fall into private hands.Epilogue:
In the spring of 1999, Pêche Island became a park owned and operated by the City of Windsor.