ENVIRONMENT: Group seeks to preserve green space on city escarpment

Communities

February 13, 2007

By Joyce M. Miles / milesj@gnnewspaper.com The Lockport Union-Sun %26 Journal Tue Feb 13, 2007, 01:56 AM EST

A movement is under way to protect the last undeveloped areas of the Niagara Escarpment in Lockport.

The Western New York Land Conservancy wants to strike a deal with the City of Lockport giving it access to public land near the city compost plant and an old sanitary landfill on West Jackson Street. The conservancy would arrange for native grasses to be planted and the lands to be restored to a natural state that’s more hospitable to wildlife, according to board member William Broderick.

“We’d like to till up (the ground), plant native grasses and plants to attract birds and butterflies,” he said.

The conservancy has embraced the Lockport Area Escarpment Legacy Project, a series of potential transactions involving 220 acres of public and private property along the escarpment and Eighteenmile Creek, to try keeping the land free of development.

When the project was first conceived five years ago, Broderick said, the conservancy’s intent was to restore streams and forge nature trails connecting the escarpment with the Erie Canal trailway. Grant money for a large-scale project was not obtained, however, so those plans have been on hold.

The conservancy recently landed a $120,000 grant from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, enough to pursue some lower-key land protection strategies.

The conservancy would not try to purchase public land, but it would seek the city’s blessing to restore tracts to a more natural state — and limit mowing — to let wildlife flourish. The city would remain firmly in control of the land, according to Broderick.

“(An agreement) would not limit city movements in the future. We’re just planting grass,” he said.

The conservancy will also be looking to acquire rights to nearby private property through conservation easements, which limit development perpetually. Property owners who accept conservation easements can get income tax deductions from both the state and federal government.

According to Broderick, the conservancy contacted 12 local private escarpment property owners about the project in 2003 and six indicated they were interested. Federal legislation OK’d last year expanded the Federal Conservation Tax Incentive for easements donated in 2006 and 2007, potentially increasing the conservancy’s chances of recruiting partners this year.

Broderick and Patricia Szarpa, executive director of the conservancy, made an informal pitch to the Common Council earlier this month. No decisions were made but aldermen seemed agreeable to letting city-held property take part in the project. A longer-term effort to tie together the escarpment, nearby city parks and the canal trail would add to the city’s appeal, Alderman At Large Joseph Kibler said.

The Niagara Escarpment, a 35-mile forested corridor stretching from Lewiston to Royalton, is part of a larger, 650-mile long landform spanning though Southern Ontario and the Great Lakes to Wisconsin. It is recognized for large, unique rock formations, some 550 million years old.

Other states and Ontario are actively involved in efforts to preserve the landform’s biosphere, but New York State “is not on the bandwagon,” Szarpa said. The conservancy independently identified the escarpment as in need of saving and is going after grant money to obtain and restore the land.

Once access rights and/or easements are obtained, “our job is to defend it forever,” Szarpa said.

Contact Joyce Miles at 439-9222, Ext. 6245.

Text Only

Communities

Newfane's Apple Blossom Fest has something for everyone
An apple a day may keep the doctor away and the apple blossoms of Niagara County are cause for celebration. Sunday’s Apple Blossom Festival will lure hundreds of visitors to step back in time to the good old days.

The Newfane Historical Society’s annual event takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the museum grounds at the corner of West Creek and Ide roads. Admission and parking are free, and families can while away a sunny afternoon perusing everything from antique tractors to a Civil War encampment.

May 17, 2012 1 Photo
NFTA targets Lockport bus routes for closure
Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority’s proposed service reductions would eliminate all bus service from, to and within greater Lockport.

December 20, 2011
Library adds online selections
Library card holders can check out and download e-books anytime, anywhere by visiting lockportlibrary.org. Patrons can download to a personal computer, Mac and many mobile devices, according to librarian Claire McDonough.

December 20, 2011 4 Photos
Mayor Maedl
Julia A. Maedl is stepping away from politics after 19 years of service to the Village of Middleport in 2001.
Maedl, who was a village trustee for nine years and village mayor for 10 years, will not seek re-election. She says she will remain very active, however.
Since the death of her husband, Robert Maedl in 2008, the Middleport mayor has been running Maedl Woodcrafts. She is on the tourist committee, chair of business association and trustee of Middleport United Methodist Church. She sings in the choir and is in charge of Harvest dinner and chicken barbecue. She manages 28 apartments.

February 11, 2011 1 Photo
Memorial tree program off to a good start
The town’s new memorial tree program has been growing quickly.
Councilwoman Cheryl A. Antkowiak said the program is being done with Stedman’s Nursery of Newfane. Residents who wish to have a tree planted will receive an information packet from Stedman’s as well as a map of Day Road Park showing where each of the 85 trees are located. Stedman’s sells the trees along with a plaque if the resident wants one to be put up.

February 3, 2011
New recycling bins available soon
Town residents could have some new bins to go along with its new recycling incentive program.
At Monday’s work session meeting, Town Board members approved the purchase of new recycling bins. The town placed an order of 1,000 of the 18 gallon bins for $8,845 and another order of 200 of the 32 gallon bins for $3,110. The large bins are 31 and a half inches in height and 22 inches in diameter.
Both sets of bins will be blue in color and the 32 gallon bins will come with lids.
The 18 and 32 gallon bins were produced by Otto Environmental Services in Charlotte, N.C., a company Supervisor Marc R. Smith said the town has used before for bins. The company still has a rubber stamp with the town logo on it.

February 1, 2011
Library names new director
Beverly Federspiel, Director of the City of Tonawanda Public Library, has been appointed as the new Director of the Lockport Public Library.
Federspiel, 49, will succeed Marie Binderman, who is retiring, on Feb. 28.
“I’m excited,” said Federspiel, who has been at the Tonawanda Library three years after serving at the Buffalo and Erie County Central Library for 18 years. “I’ve always loved the Lockport building and the community is very supportive. There are lots of opportunities out there.”

February 1, 2011
Winterfest, take two
Winterfest was a big success last year and Winterfest 2011 may even be bigger Saturday at Royalton-Hartland Elementary School and the Hartland Bible Church.
“Last year was the first year and well over 650 people attended, that’s a huge response for an inaugural event,” said Helen Feron, the chairman of the steering committee. “This year we expect more.”
Entertainment and activities are scheduled from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. including a basket auction at the Hartland Bible Church at 3 p.m., where Magician Robert Geckler will also perform at 2:15 p.m.
The event is geared towards school aged children and free to children 10-and-under. Admissiong is $3 for adults and includes Chinese auction tickets.

February 1, 2011
High school project coming along
Construction on Lockport High School is continuing throughout the winter months. Construction crews work on a scaffold on the west side of the building, which is the Locust Street side. The school is undergoing a $23.5 million capital improvement project that includes adding a fitness center, a six classroom addition and completely renovate the auditorium into a brand new fine arts center. The auditorium will also have stage work completed, new music rooms, a renovated foyer and a new entrance on the Locust Street side. There will be improvements made to ventilators and mechanical systems, an art gallery, new windows, as well as new padding and bleachers in the gymnasium. The technology wing also will be updated, and the library renovated to make room for a computer lab. Also, bathrooms will be added nearby. The entire project is expected to be completed in September.

January 28, 2011 2 Photos
Going green
With a symbolic “shot heard ‘round the community,” Lockport’s historic Kenan Center Arena unveiled its new artificial turf indoor soccer field and renovated “annex.”
About a dozen local dignitaries were on hand Thursday night at special dedication ceremony, attended by about 200 parents and soccer players, who wasted little time putting two new soccer fields to work.
The new turf installation was part of a larger arena capital project, which included the renovation of the arena’s adjacent annex room, which was gutted last year to create almost 6,000 square feet of additional space. Parts of the old artificial turf field were used to cover the new, smaller soccer field in the annex.
Lockport Mayor Michael Tucker lauded the Kenan’s effort and others who joined in to make the $106,000 capital improvement project — more than 10 years in the making — a reality. Funders include the Kenan soccer players, who raised about $60,000 selling candy, the Grigg-Lewis Foundation, the Kenan Arts Council, Rotary Club of Lockport and the Lockport Lions Club.

January 28, 2011 4 Photos
More Communities Headlines

Communities

Search Results

ENVIRONMENT: Group seeks to preserve green space on city escarpment

Site Map

Contact Us