The Friends of Times Beach Nature Preserve
ADVOCACY
Events and NewsPetition to Save Times Beach Please consider signing our petition to advocate for no housing or inappropriate development around Times Beach as proposed by the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation.
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Articles:
September 27, 2014 Rally to Save Times Beach September 13, 2014 Special Founders Day Dedication Times Beach in the News "Times Beach is vital to wildlife, plans to develop outer harbor will endanger rare habitat and ecotourism" - by Jay Burney Buffalo News Sunday Viewpoints Cover April 5, 2015 |
September 27, 2014 Rally To Save Times Beach Nature Preserve
The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation final plan for Outer Harbor Development around Times Beach, announced in September 2014. Times Beach is center/left. Wilkeson Pointe Park is to the right. When asked, planners admitted that parking for the private condominiums would take up much of the green space shown in this image of Wilkeson Pointe.
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During the Summer of 2014, the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC), a New York State agency, engaged in a quick process to define "development opportunities" on Buffalo's outer harbor.
In early September they announced development plans that would include creating a new residential and mixed use community surrounding Times Beach Nature Preserve and in the newly opened Wilkeson Point Park which is just next door to Times Beach. On September 27, the Friends of Times Beach held a rally protesting the ECHDC decision and demanding a voice in development discussions relative to the outer harbor. After all many of us have been involved in outer harbor development discussions for over 50 years. The support of the community, our friends, for Times Beach Nature Preserve continues to make a big difference. Initially the ECHDC pulled back on its plans to immediately develop the sites around Times Beach. In October 2014 they announced that they will revise the schedule and reintroduce a "new" plan for market driven development that will include housing around Times Beach. We expect an announcement in April of 2015. MORE HERE |
September 13, 2014 Special Founders Dedication Ceremony
On September 13, 2014, Erie County, The City of Buffalo, The United States Army Corps of Engineers, and Congressman Brian Higgins joined us in honoring four of our founders- original members of the Times Beach Advisory Committee, now the Friends of Times Beach.
From the Invitation
Join Us for a Special Dedication Ceremony and Bi-Lingual (Spanish/English) Bird Tour on Saturday, September 13, 2014
In the 1970's Times Beach was an abandoned Contained Waste Disposal Facility. Dr. Robert Andrle, a noted ornithologist then working with the Buffalo Museum of Science and the Buffalo Ornithological Society, was one of the first to notice that the place was located in a unique spot, at the confluence of the Buffalo and Niagara Rivers and on the shores of Lake Erie and that this unique location was very attractive to migrating and breeding birds. His efforts to make people aware of this, with the NYS DEC and others, energized people such as Mike Hamilton, an active birder and environmentalist, Paul MacClennan, the environmental reporter for the Buffalo News, and George K. Arthur, the President of the Buffalo Common Council to promote and protect the place as a nature preserve.
Together they worked to recognize and ultimate establish what we now know as the Times Beach Nature Preserve in Downtown Buffalo.
On Saturday September 13, 2014, at 10 am, the Friends of Times Beach and Erie County will hold a special ceremony unveiling new signs at locations that will be named in honor of these four individuals.
Speakers will include County Executive Mark Poloncarz, Congressman Brian Higgins, Buffalo News Nature columnist Gerry Rising, and Friends of Times Beach chair, Jay Burney.
Schedule
Bi-lingual Bird Tour 8:45 am - 9:45 am
Dedication Ceremony 10:00 am-10:30 am
Location: Times Beach Nature Preserve
Bi-lingual Bird Tour
This day will be at the height of the fall migration season. A bi-lingual (English/Spanish) bird tour of the Nature Preserve, hosted by Jajean Rose Burney and Ana Hernandez of the Western New York Land Conservancy will precede the Dedication Ceremony
The walk is free and open to the public. Participants should meet just inside the main entrance of the preserve at 9:45am. Jajean and Ana are married and work together at the Land Conservancy, a land trust that protects some of the region’s most important natural places and farmland. Ana was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, while Jajean is from Buffalo. Both Ana and Jajean served as Peace Corps Volunteers in Puebla, Mexico, where they helped protect threatened bird habitat, train new bird guides, and write several books about the birds of Puebla.
Join Us for a Special Dedication Ceremony and Bi-Lingual (Spanish/English) Bird Tour on Saturday, September 13, 2014
In the 1970's Times Beach was an abandoned Contained Waste Disposal Facility. Dr. Robert Andrle, a noted ornithologist then working with the Buffalo Museum of Science and the Buffalo Ornithological Society, was one of the first to notice that the place was located in a unique spot, at the confluence of the Buffalo and Niagara Rivers and on the shores of Lake Erie and that this unique location was very attractive to migrating and breeding birds. His efforts to make people aware of this, with the NYS DEC and others, energized people such as Mike Hamilton, an active birder and environmentalist, Paul MacClennan, the environmental reporter for the Buffalo News, and George K. Arthur, the President of the Buffalo Common Council to promote and protect the place as a nature preserve.
Together they worked to recognize and ultimate establish what we now know as the Times Beach Nature Preserve in Downtown Buffalo.
On Saturday September 13, 2014, at 10 am, the Friends of Times Beach and Erie County will hold a special ceremony unveiling new signs at locations that will be named in honor of these four individuals.
Speakers will include County Executive Mark Poloncarz, Congressman Brian Higgins, Buffalo News Nature columnist Gerry Rising, and Friends of Times Beach chair, Jay Burney.
Schedule
Bi-lingual Bird Tour 8:45 am - 9:45 am
Dedication Ceremony 10:00 am-10:30 am
Location: Times Beach Nature Preserve
Bi-lingual Bird Tour
This day will be at the height of the fall migration season. A bi-lingual (English/Spanish) bird tour of the Nature Preserve, hosted by Jajean Rose Burney and Ana Hernandez of the Western New York Land Conservancy will precede the Dedication Ceremony
The walk is free and open to the public. Participants should meet just inside the main entrance of the preserve at 9:45am. Jajean and Ana are married and work together at the Land Conservancy, a land trust that protects some of the region’s most important natural places and farmland. Ana was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, while Jajean is from Buffalo. Both Ana and Jajean served as Peace Corps Volunteers in Puebla, Mexico, where they helped protect threatened bird habitat, train new bird guides, and write several books about the birds of Puebla.
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Brief BiographiesDr. Robert F. Andrle, Ornithologist-Buffalo Ornithological Society
Dr. Andrle was one of the first individuals (along with Gerry Rising) to recognize times beach’s importance as a place for migrating and breeding birds. Bob has had a long career, traveled throughout the world, and has been one of the finest ornithological resources in North America. We have been extremely lucky to have him in western new york. His professional life has included working for the Buffalo Museum of Science where he was curator of vertebrate zoology; assistant, associate, and acting director; fellow; and research associate. He acted as the chair of the Buffalo Ornitholgical Society’s statistics committee and the New York State Ornithological Association. He is the senior editor of the first Atlas of Breeding Birds of New York State (1988); author of the Gulls of the Niagara Frontier; and researcher and statistician for the creation of the Niagara River Globally Significant Important Bird Area. Bob’s tireless advocacy of Times Beach with the DEC and local political leaders helped make the former contained disposal facility into a Nature Preserve. Paul MacClennan, Environmental Reporter-Buffalo News
Paul MacClennan was the environmental reporter for The Buffalo News for 30 years. He continued to write a weekly environmental column for several years after his retirement. He graduated from Syracuse University's School of Journalism, he taught at The American University at Cairo for three years and then returned to work at The Watertown Times before joining The News. After his retirement, He founded, GreenWatch with co-editor Jay Burney, a newsletter generated in Buffalo with statewide reach. The newsletter covered local and statewide environmental news and helped to coalesce the WNY Environmental Coalition which met for several years with a focus on creating a recognized local and regional voice for the environment. His tireless advocacy of Times Beach helped keep the evolving nature preserve concept in the news and helped create public interest and support for the place that continues to this day. Paul and his wife Pat continue to live in Buffalo’s Parkside neighborhood. George K. Arthur, President-Buffalo Common Council 1984-1996
Long time civic leader. Member of the Buffalo Common Council 1970-1994. Served as Council President 1984-1994, ran for Mayor of Buffalo. George was the first person to introduce me to Times Beach and was and remains a staunch advocate for the development and preservation of Times Beach as a Nature Preserve. His political intuition and strategies moved the place from an abandoned Contained disposal site to one of he most important nature preserves in the Great Lakes. Born in Buffalo, Arthur completed his primary education in the Buffalo Public School System, and graduated from Seneca Vocational High School with a major in photography; he was the first African American in the school to graduate with that major. Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1953, Arthur continued to hone his photographic skills throughout his tour of duty, and following his honorable discharge in 1955, went on to receive a B.A. in Political Science from SUNY Empire State College. Following early employment as a photo technician and narcotics counselor, Arthur soon entered the political arena, where in the early 1960′s he was elected as a Democratic committeeman, and later held offices with the Erie County Board of Supervisors, Ellicott District Buffalo Common Councilmember, and Buffalo Common Councilmember-at-large, before becoming the President of the Buffalo Common Council, a post he held from 1984 to his retirement in 1996. Arthur ran for Buffalo City Mayor as the endorsed Democratic candidate in 1985, making him one of only three African Americans to ever seek the office of Mayor in Buffalo, yet he was narrowly defeated by the incumbent, James D. Griffin. In 1989, Arthur helped to create the Pine Grill Jazz Festival, the widely attended outdoor music festival that takes place each year in Martin Luther King, Jr. Park on Buffalo’s East Side. In addition, Arthur spent time on the Board of Directors of CEPA gallery, including serving as Board President.) He has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the NAACP Medgar Evers Award, the Red Jacket Award from the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, the YMCA Jackie Robinson Award, and the Buffalo Urban League Evans and Young honors. Currently, Arthur serves as the President of the Michigan Street Preservation Corporation, which, under his leadership, has preserved and reopened the Rev. J. Edward Nash, Sr. home as a museum, research center, and heritage tourism center. Mike Hamilton, Architect -Hamilton Houston Lownie
Mike Hamilton, who died in 2012, made many contributions to the natural history of the Niagara Frontier in addition to those he made to the Friends of Times Beach Nature Preserve. Retired from the architectural firm of Hamilton, Houston and Lownie, he served as council member and president of the Buffalo Ornithological Society (BOS) and as a board member of the Niagara Riverkeepers. A birder with a national reputation - he was one of those few who have seen over 700 species - Mike wrote several essays for John Black's and Kayo Roy's 2010 Niagara Birds and reported on sections for the 2005 New York State Breeding Bird Atlas. He applied his artistic talents to several illustrations for BOS publications and to redrawing maps of the regional birding sections. Mike also led a BOS Research Committee study of the distribution of birds along the Buffalo River for the purpose of making recommendations for the regional Remedial Action Plan. This committee surveyed sample sections of the river and its tributaries with emphasis on the river's lower reaches in brownfield areas to determine what bird species occurred in the past and what species now occur in these areas. This information is being used to make recommendations for habitat restoration and preservation. Among his many other activities, Mike worked on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relicensing of the Niagara Power Project and was a representative to the Greenway Citizen’s Advisory Committee. The Friends of Times Beach Nature Preserve wish to thank all of those that came out to the ceremony and the bird tour! |