News Archives for 2002


North Tonawanda Audubon Nature Preserve/Klydel Wetland Issues




BEST BETS THIS WEEKEND
By JANE KWIATKOWSKI
Buffalo News Staff Reporter
10/24/2002 - Front page of the local section
 
More owl prowl fun!

Brought to you by the Buffalo Audubon Society. Dress warm, bring a flashlight.

Both start at 7 p.m.:

� Friday at the North Tonawanda Audubon Nature Preserve. Meet in the parking lot in front of North Tonawanda High School, 405 Meadow Drive. [2 or 3 eastern screech owls were seen at this event with participants coming from as far away as Texas to attend].

� Saturday at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. Meet at Cayuga Pool Overlook, Route 77 in Alabama, NY. [Three barred owls and 6 to 8 screech owls were seen at this event].


Excerpts from "Preserve is Refuge to More than Geese"
The Buffalo News- September 2, 2002 - by Gerry Rising

The Buffalo Audubon Society deserves recognition for initiating a series of excellent natural history programs, many of them at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge.

Begun in 2001, expanded last spring and continuing this fall, these activities have already become popular despite little publicity. Some data about the spring sessions will give a sense of the extent of this program: volunteers contributed more than 500 hours of their time, almost 2,000 attended the various programs and a total of 151 species of birds as well as many mammals, insects and wildflowers were identified.

This year's Audubon "Iroquois Observations" program will include opportunities to watch birds through telescopes, with experts providing identification assistance; spend evenings listening to the whistles and hoots of various owls, often sighting them as well; attend talks; and join car caravans to tour the area.

Owl prowls are scheduled for the evenings of Sept. 28 at Iroquois and Oct. 19 [owl caller was NTHS teacher, Chris Heistand, on Oct. 19, 2002] at the new North Tonawanda Nature Preserve [Please note: Another NT Preserve Owl Prowl was added on Oct. 25]. Leading it will be this region's top owl specialist, Chuck Rosenburg. Anyone who has not heard Chuck whistle in screech owls or hoot up barred owls has a treat in store.

Another premier regional birder, Dick Miga, will give two talks. As part of National Wildlife Refuge Week, he will speak at 1 p.m. Oct. 12 on waterfowl identification. His other talk at 7 p.m. Nov. 13 will focus on backyard and feeder birds. That program will take place in the North Tonawanda Public Library.

I salute Garner Light, Tony Wagner and Paula Losito for organizing these and many other activities and the many volunteers supporting them.

To register for the birding basics course or to obtain more information, call 433-6624 or visit the Iroquois Observations Web site at www.wildeyes.com/iroquois and the Buffalo Audubon site at www.buffaloaudubon.com.

e-mail: [email protected]


Thanks to Mike Igoe of WGRZ-TV for the great work he did in broadcasting our cause. If you missed the July 1, 2002 segment on the 5 PM news, view the story by hitting here.


Wetlands purchase to double preserve's size, groups says
Excerpt of article by KEVIN PURDY - Buffalo News Niagara Correspondent - July 2, 2002
 
NORTH TONAWANDA - Conservancy groups seeking to purchase and preserve the Klydel Wetlands announced Monday that land bought from a former potential developer will nearly double the size of the North Tonawanda Audubon Preserve.

The land, near the center of the 70-acre wetlands on Meadow Drive, was purchased Thursday for an appraised value of $130,000 from Herman Probst, a developer who stirred controversy among conservation groups early in 2000 when he attempted to clear his property and received approval for a planned senior apartments complex.

Probst's land, the single largest parcel in the wetlands, will be used to extend the nature trails and provide more educational programs in the preserve, said William McKeever, executive director of the Buffalo Audubon Society.

The purchase, negotiated by the Western New York Land Conservancy, was funded by a number of federal and private grants received by the Audubon Society and Citizens for a Green North Tonawanda, an advocacy group that seeks to educate local residents on the value of the wetlands.

"Both the quantity and quality of the wetlands available for public use now are a great benefit for everybody," McKeever said. "Our partnership was fortunate to be able to get this land."

Once the titles for Probst land and future land acquisitions are turned over to the Audubon Society, the Conservancy will retain a conservation easement on the land, providing what Amy Holt, the Conservancy's land protection manager, calls a "double layer of protection" from intrusion by developers.

In January 2001, Probst instructed contractors to cut down trees, including some nearly 180-year-old cottonwoods and red maples, on his property.

The work continued despite protests by conservancy groups and students from North Tonawanda High School, just south of the wetlands, until the Army Corps of Engineers issued its second order to halt.

Probst could not be reached Monday for comment.

Funded by Audubon Society grants, the Conservancy acquired the preserve's original 17.2 for $33,000 from Wanda and Edward Padlo, less than a third of the $107,000 appraisal by the Girasole Appraisal Co. of Niagara Falls.

Although a majority of the remaining landowners are willing to settle for the appraised value of their land, Holt said the preservation groups "don't expect to get another family like the Padlos to sell on a loss."


"Klydel Wetlands - 18 Acres Added to Preserve"
by Sean P. O'Neil - Front Page - Tonawanda News - Saturday, June 29, 2002
 
"It's a win for the environment, it's a win for the city, it's a win for educational opportunities, and it's a win for land owners" - Tony Wagner, Buffalo Audubon Society
 
Another chunk of land in the Klydel Wetlands in North Tonawanda has been purchased by a local environmental group.
 
The Western New York Land Conservancy bought approximately 18 acres of land from Herman Probst Thursday for approximately $130,000.  The deal allows the land to be joined with other land purchased by the Conservancy at the site for use as nature trails and for the preserve.
 
Other smaller plots of land are still owned by private owners, but there is no chance of those plots being developed into retail or housing.  In essence, the final piece of the puzzle in saving the wetlands for use by schools, residents and nature lovers is complete.
 
"The Land Conservancy acquired the land at its appraised value," William P. McKeever, executive director of the Buffalo Audubon Society said.
 
"The trail development on the Probst property is in conjunction with the trails there already," Tony Wagner, former president of Buffalo Audubon Society said.
 
When reached at his home, Probst refused to comment on the sale to the Tonawanda News.
 
The site, minus the 12 or so acres still owned by private landowners, is a current and future site for schools to study wildlife and forestry, and for the public, who may use the nature trails or go on bird watching expeditions.  The site also will be used by Audubon Society and the Land Conservancy to teach the importance of wetlands to an area, as well as to teach people about the Niagara River Important Bird Area.
 
"We're working on connecting the dots where we can fill in," Amy Holt from the Western New York Land Conservancy said.  "(The sale) is something that just takes time.  In fairness to (Probst), we weren't able to pull the money together.  We did a fund-raiser in the neighborhood, and we received a lot of support.  It helped with the closing costs."  Eventually, the two sides were able to come to an agreement and the sale went through.  Thanks to a state grant for $97,000, the Conservancy and Audubon Society said there is a good deal of money available to the rest of the land owners in the area.  But unlike Probst, who had planned to develop on the site, the current owners have not given any indication that they would do anything with the land.  Those owners will not be pressured to sell to the Conservancy or any other preservation group.
 
"We have taken away the piece of property most desirable for commercial use," Steve Slivan, head of Citizens for a Green North Tonawanda said.  "Over the past five years, Herman has been working very hard to develop the area.  He's come up with a number of schemes to develop back there."
 
As time goes on, more and more work will be done by the Conservancy to improve the area for continued public use.  But the sale is a big victory for those who wanted to save the area from development.
 
"It's a win for the environment, it's a win for the city, it's a win for educational opportunities, and it's a win for land owners," Wagner said.
 
"I don't think anyone was certain this would happen until (Thursday)," Holt added.
 
"By the end of August, it will be spectacular," Elizabeth S. Kaszubski of the Audubon Society said of the newly purchased land.


Excerpts from:  "Frogs help keep developers from bogging down NT wetlands"
 
By KEVIN PURDY - Niagara Correspondent - the Buffalo News - 6/16/2002

NORTH TONAWANDA - For years, the Buffalo Audubon Society, Uncle Sam and generous landowners have worked to preserve the city's Klydel Wetlands, but many say the frogs kept developers out of the woods.

If not the resolve of the diverse amphibians themselves, then "The Frogs," members of Citizens for a Green North Tonawanda, with other Western New York conservancy groups, get the credit for keeping the marshes off Meadow Drive in the public eye and ensuring the tract's future.

On May 22, Gov. George E. Pataki announced a $1.2 million package of state and federal grants to Niagara and Erie counties for parks and historic-preservation projects.  The Buffalo Audubon Society received $97,000 to purchase 60 acres of the federally protected wetland from its owners.

With more land, residents, students, bird watchers and others will have what Kaszubski describes as an upstate equivalent of Central Park, with trails for visitors to view birds and other animals.

"In a whole sea of concrete, here is this oasis of wetland," she said.

Kaszubski is also a member of the Buffalo Audubon Society board and the Western New York Land Conservancy, the two organizations that will handle the purchase. The groups obtained 17.2 acres of the wetland to establish the North Tonawanda Audubon Nature Preserve last October.

"This is taking underdeveloped, unappreciated properties and turning them into a public asset," said Buffalo Audubon Society Executive Director William McKeever. "In Niagara County there's lots of underdeveloped land, but there's only a few parcels of this."

The citizens group was formed in February 1997, shortly after Benderson Development Co. proposed building a Tops supermarket on part of the 18-acre parcel owned by Herman Probst of Probst Development Co. and James K. McGinnis, son of then-Mayor James M. McGinnis. Less than a year after Benderson backed out and McGinnis sold his share to Probst, Aldi Foods expressed interest in a similar project.

Amy Holt, a land protection manager at the Land Conservancy, noted that federal regulations enforced by the state Department of Environmental Conservation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers forbid development on wetlands. But leaving definitions and enforcement to the state would not have assured the wetlands' future, she said. "There's not necessarily a sense of security without a firm ownership of property," Holt said.

During this time, Rosenburg began bringing residents and student groups out on "owl prowls," late-night trips into the wetlands that involved bringing eastern screech and other owls into plain view with specialized calls. More than 100 species of birds stop in the wetlands on their way up or down the Niagara River, he said.

In January 2000, when workers for Probst began to clear away 150-year-old trees for undisclosed reasons, the Corps of Engineers placed a sign on the property that read, "The United States of American hereby orders you to stop work." Members of the North Tonawanda High School Outdoor Awareness Club joined in protests at the site.

Eventually, the work stopped, and numerous grants and strokes of luck aided supporters' efforts to preserve the area.

Wanda and Edward Padlo sold 17.2 acres, valued at $107,000, to the Land Conservancy for about $33,000, providing the land for the initial preserve. After high school and community volunteers cleared paths and set up educational materials, the trails were opened for the community, along with high school and college biology research.

In January, the Common Council voted against a business expansion at 404 Meadow Drive, which would have come close to the wetlands.

The Barbara T. and Robert Meech Fund, Du Pont's Niagara Falls plant and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service provided more than $110,000 in grants between 1999 and 2001.

The wetlands are a fitting part of history for North Tonawanda, City Engineer Dale Marshall said. The Tonawandas region was one of the last to be settled because of its dense swamps and wetlands.

According to the Land Conservancy, only 40 percent of Western New York's original wetlands remain. The majority is now federally protected.

"By today's standards, you probably couldn't build the Amherst campus (of the University at Buffalo) out on the swamps anymore," Marshall said.

This entire article can be viewed at:  http://www.buffnews.com/editorial/20020616/1031821.asp


Klydel Wetlands - "Grant to Help Grow Preserve" - by Sean P. O' Neil

Front page- Tonawanda News - Saturday, June 15, 2002

A grant for nearly $100,000 will help a local preservation group purchase land in a North Tonawanda wetland.

New York has awarded a $97,000 grant to the Buffalo Audubon Society as part of the Klydel Wetlands land acquisition project. The money will come from the state's Clean Water, Clean Bond Act, as well as the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. The grant was part of a recent flurry of money for Western New York projects, most notably $500,000 for the Niagara Falls Arts and Cultural Center, located at the former Niagara Falls High School.

Governor George Pataki recently announced the Klydel grant, which will focus on protecting the 70-acre wetland located off of Meadow Drive near North Tonawanda High School. The site, which is one of the largest natural greenspaces in the city, will be used as an outdoor educational site for the school as well as for residents' use.

"Whether it's preserving part of our cultural heritage, expanding outdoor recreation or protecting open spaces, these new grants will help to improve the quality of life for communities throughout Western New York," Pataki said in a written statement.

Steve Slivan of Citizens for a Green North Tonawanda said a handful of land owners still own property in the wetlands and this money will help buy that land from them to keep the area from development.

"There's a number of potential sellers out there," Slivan said. "(The grant) came as a flat out surprise. It's a real winner."

Slivan said the money will go to Buffalo Audubon Society, who will then turn it over to the Western New York Land Conservancy.

"We do not have the money now, but obviously, it will be coming," he said.

Buffalo Audubon Society Executive Director Bill McKeever said he is hopeful more land can be purchased for preservation purposes in the near future.

"The best way to look at what we're doing is that it is in three stages. The first one has happened, the next is stuck in the middle, and one is yet to come," he said. "This grant enables the third phase."

With this grant, the wetlands owned by Audubon will continue to be used for educational programs and public use, including "owl prowls" and bird watching excursions, McKeever said.

"In the near future, we're going to go forward. Hopefully, we will work with the land owners in the area... to keep the wetlands a wetland," he said.


EXCERPTS FROM GOVERNOR PATAKI'S PRESS RELEASE:
May 22, 2002

GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES $1.2 MILLION FOR PARKS & PRESERVATION IN WNY

Awards to Include $500,000 for Niagara Falls Arts and Cultural Center

Governor George E. Pataki today announced that six projects in Niagara and Erie Counties will receive $1.2 million in funding through the Clean Water, Clean Air Bond Act and federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, to preserve historic resources, enhance recreation opportunities and conserve open space. A highlight of the awards is a $500,000 grant toward the restoration of the former Niagara Falls High School, now the Niagara Falls Arts and Cultural Center (NACC).

Among the other five projects announced today are the rehabilitation of a playground, the construction of a basketball court, the development of new parklands and recreational facilities, restorations to an historic pathway, grading and drainage improvements and the acquisition of land for use as an outdoor educational site.

State Parks Commissioner Bernadette Castro said, "I commend Governor Pataki for his leadership in the preservation and protection of our historic and natural resources across New York State."

OPRHP support for the fiscal year 2001-2002 Clean Water, Clean Air Bond Act projects for parks, greenways, historic preservation and heritage areas to municipalities and not-for-profits comes to $7 million towards the funding of 49 projects. Over the past five years, more than $33.5 million in Bond Act grants has been awarded to 193 projects across New York State with more than $1.6 million for 8 projects in Niagara and Erie counties.

Created in 1964, the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund shares the revenues from coastal non-renewable resources with State and local governments for the establishment of permanent recreational facilities. This fund is authorized to provide up to $900 million for federal and non-federal (stateside) programs. The stateside funding was eliminated in 1996.

New York's share was approximately $1.9 million for 2000 and increased to $4.8 million for New York State for the 2001 LWCF program. The recommended funding announced today represents a portion of the nearly $5 million for New York State from the federal Land and Water Conservation Funds (LWCF). New York's share of the funding was approximately $1.9 million for 2000. Through the success of the Task Force efforts, Congress appropriated $270 million, with nearly $7.1 million for New York State for the 2002 LWCF program.

The following projects in Niagara and Erie counties are receiving funding under the Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act and the Land and Water Conservation Fund:

Niagara County:
Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act
Save Our Sites in Niagara Falls, Niagara Falls Arts & Cultural Center, $500,000
Exterior restoration, to include roof, windows, doors and stone steps, will allow the building to be returned to the community as the Niagara Falls Arts and Cultural Center.

Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act
Buffalo Audubon Society / Klydel Wetlands Land Acquisition, $97,000.
The North Tonawanda Audubon Nature Preserve project focuses on protecting a unique, 70-acre remnant forest block located in an urban neighborhood in the City of North Tonawanda for use as an outdoor educational site. Klydel Wetlands is a high quality wetland that provides many important ecological and social values to both residents and visitors as the largest contiguous forested wetland in the City limits and one of the largest areas of natural greenspace in the City.

Land & Water Conservation Fund
Town of Royalton, New facilities at Veteran's Park, $79,200.
The Town of Royalton will construct and install multi-use recreation facilities in Veteran's Park, the only municipal parkland in this historic community. Located in the Hamlet of Gasport, the park is strategically linked to the Erie Barge Canal and Heritage Trail, a Class 5 Bicycle Route, and the Niagara Historic Trail system.

Erie County:

Land & Water Conservation Fund
City of Lackawanna. Rehabilitation of Bauder Playground, $41,230.
The City of Lackawanna will rehabilitate Bauder Playground which has been inactive for the past 15 years and located in a New York State designated Economic Development Zone. The project will include the construction of a new basketball court and installation of playground equipment. Restoration of this playground will offer accessible outdoor recreation and expansion of the City's summer recreation program and free lunch program to a low-income, densely populated community.

Land & Water Conservation Fund
City of Buffalo. Development of Eastern Park, $163,384.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, formally known as both The Parade and Humboldt Park, is one of six Olmsted Parks within a system of parks and parkways in Buffalo that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A new master plan has assessed the relevant historic restoration issues as well as the needs of the local community for the development of the park. This project will include picnic area improvements, historic pathway restoration, tennis court relocation, playground relocation and grading and drainage improvements in the eastern end of the park.

Land & Water Conservation Fund The Sweet Home Central School District of Amherst and Tonawanda.
Amherst/Sweet Home Park, $300,000.
The Sweet Home Central School District of Amherst and Tonawanda will convert 27.32 acres of unused property into much needed recreation facilities. Included in this plan will be two multi-purpose fields, a utility baseball field, and a multi-purpose trail. This project will serve a low income and under-served population and address the need for active recreation in the community.

URL Source:  http://www.state.ny.us/governor/press/year02/may22_4_02.htm




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