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Fifteen miles from downtown Detroit, goldenrods, asters, and blazing stars shine in a sea of grass. Bats, butterflies and birds skim the air; foxes rustle in bluestem and Indian grass. This is Sibley Prairie, Michigan’s largest remaining lakeplain prairie—a landscape that exists almost nowhere else on Earth. But its survival depends on a fundraising effort, and the clock is ticking.
A 440-acre property, which includes most of Sibley Prairie, is owned by Fritz Enterprises, a scrap metal processing company. Last summer the company scheduled it for auction, putting the land at high risk of being developed into more of the housing, industrial, and commercial sprawl that already surrounds it. At the last moment, Michigan Land Conservancy secured an option to buy the land from Fritz Enterprises, backed by a lender…