Detroit’s Poletown neighborhood is now home to a restored forest.  

Detroit Future City and Arboretum Detroit worked with community members, the city of Detroit’s Neighborhood Beautification Program and others to restore 1.3 acres of land back to nature. 

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Circle Forest is located along 12 Poletown city lots and will serve as a communal space for residents in the neighborhood. 

Arboretum Detroit Executive Director Birch Kemp and Park Maintenance Assistant Robyn Redding joined The Metro on Thursday to talk about the forest project and trail. 

The first step in the Circle Forest project was clearing 60 yards of garbage from the site, Kemp said.

“There’s this healing aspect that happens with liberating the land from garbage. And everybody who’s been a part of these volunteer work days has felt that, right?” Kemp said. “And planting a tree too, you feel like you’re actually doing something in this world [that] is very tangible, and we’re doing it together and basically building the Detroit we want to see.”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation with Birch Kemp and Robyn Redding of Arboretum Detroit.

More headlines from The Metro on Oct. 17, 2024: 

• Detroit, like other cities around the country, is trying to reduce its emissions and ensure clean air, clean water, and safe green spaces for residents to explore. One recent step the city has taken to make Detroit more environmentally-friendly is  offering a new composting program. Patrice Brown, associate director of urban agriculture for the city of Detroit, joined the show to discuss the initiative.
• The fall colors are beautiful in Michigan. And while you’re admiring the trees, Michigan state officials are also asking people to keep an eye out for invasive Asian long-horned beetles, which pose a danger to trees — especially maples. To talk more about this invasive species, we’re joined by Axios Detroit reporter Annalise Frank. 
• For all you beer and Detroit Public Radio lovers out there, we’ve got something special brewing in honor of WDET’s 75th anniversary. WDET’s Ryan Patrick Hooper joined The Metro to talk about a new collaboration between the station and Batch Brewing commemorating the milestone. Our new WDET Beer – “It’s So Kölsch in the D” – will be unveiled at a special beer release party tomorrow night at Batch. 

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Detroit’s Palmer Park has seen many improvements over the years, from renovated tennis and pickleball courts and a new dog park to a variety of habitat restoration projects.

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Home to the largest old-growth forest in the Tri-County area — and one of only seven forests in the city of Detroit — the protection of the park’s 70-acre Witherell Woods has been a key focus for community groups working to restore and maintain the park.

People for Palmer Park President Stacy Varner, and Bobbi Westerby — whose company Environmental Consulting & Technology is leading the park’s latest restoration efforts — joined The Metro on Thursday to discuss their goals and the importance of this public space.

Varner described the scenery in Palmer Park as “magical,” noting that there is work underway to make improvements to both the park’s trail system and natural areas. 

“Just like with any living thing, [the park] needs maintenance, it needs nurturing, it needs preserving,” Varner said. “That’s part of this effort, of the habitat restoration project that is going on in Palmer Park.”

Westerby says part of their restoration work will include removal of invasive species, like buckthorn, from Witherell Woods to help promote native growth.

“We don’t want to do a lot,” said Westerby of the forest restoration efforts. “We want to remove the stuff that’s not supposed to be there and let the things that are supposed to be there thrive.”

Use the media player above to hear the full interview with Varner and Westerby.

WDET’s Jenny Sherman contributed to this report.

Related: CuriosiD: Are the woods in Palmer Park a virgin forest?

More headlines from The Metro on Sept. 12, 2024:

• The city of Detroit and its fire department want to train all city employees in hands-only CPR. It’s already trained 100,000 residents on CPR and AED use – giving the city a “HeartSafe city” designation by a national preparedness program dedicated to improving outcomes from sudden cardiac arrest. To discuss their efforts and the importance of CPR/AED training, Detroit Fire Department Commissioner Chuck Simms and Medical Director Dr. Robert Dunne joined the show.
• Two University of Michigan professors have teamed up for an initiative aimed at increasing college-age voting called the Creative Campus Voting Project. They joined The Metro to discuss their efforts. 
• The Detroit Documenters recently attended a hearing by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy about possible changes to a permit for the Detroit Assembly Complex on Mack Avenue run by Stellantis. Residents are asking for the permit to be denied. To discuss what happened at the hearing, we were joined by Detroit Documenter Anna Harris and Coordinator Noah Kincade.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.