GREENWAY COMMISSION
Proposal takes aim at restoring Tuscarora wetland
The Tuscarora Indians call it “the swamp,” but a 450-acre area on the southwest side of their territory in Lewiston will be restored to a wetland habitat of forests and aquatic life.
The wetland restoration was among four projects approved Tuesday by the Niagara River Greenway Commission at a meeting in the Beaver Island State Park clubhouse on Grand Island.
At a cost of $197,000, the Tuscarora project will involve the creation of an open water, forested wetland for the purposes of re-establishing native plant species and a sustainable fishery.
The area includes a large portion of the headwater source for Gill Creek, which discharges into the Upper Niagara River.
Before the formation of Gill Creek Park, Gill Creek was a source of freshwater fish for the Tuscarora, primarily bountiful quantities of grass pike and sucker fish.
Those day are gone, and now, Tuscarora environmentalist Rene Rickard told the commission, “We call it the swamp.”
The Tuscarora plan is to complete the project in phases, which will involve site analysis, conceptual design, site design, monitoring and maintenance and construction.
Other projects the Greenway Commission found compatible with the Greenway Plan:
• A $55,000 plan by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority to construct a fortified stone embankment and trench to protect Buffalo’s Outer Harbor Bell Slip.
The project will include a nature trail, pedestrian and bicycle paths that will connect surrounding natural resources that have long been isolated from each other.
• A $102,000 plan by the City of Niagara Falls to install lighting in Gill Creek Park at Niagara and 32nd streets.
Hyde Park is nearby, but because it involves crossing busy Hyde Park Boulevard, area residents opt to use Gill Creek Park, a seven-acre green space that has a small playground, picnic shelter, comfort station, gazebo and nature trails.
Because of the absence of lighting, the park has become a gathering place for petty criminals, police said. The city said it can complete the lighting project before the beginning of the summer.
• A planned series of weeklong events from June 5 to June 14 to celebrate the centennial of the Boundary Waters Treaty.
The festivities will involve 10 municipalities on both sides of the New York-Ontario border and include exhibitions, performances, festivals, guided tours and water-themed conferences. The event will wind up on the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls with a celebration of the official signing of the Boundary Waters Treaty on June 13, 1909.
The celebration also is intended to bring the Niagara River Greenway to the forefront of the media, tourists and local residents as the commission continues to develop a network of interconnected parks, river access points and waterfront trails along the Niagara River from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario.
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