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Dear Friend,
Happy New Year! Reading news coverage as the New Year turned it was clear that our community, our nation and our globe face daunting challenges as we begin 2010.
However, as I returned to my desk today after time well spent with family and friends this holiday, I did so with enormous hope and excitement. At RIVERKEEPER, and for the Niagara, 2010 is a year of great promise. This year, we will reap the fruits of seeds sown many years ago. This year, we will begin construction - cleaning up decades of pollution on the bottom of the Buffalo River. This year, we will see construction on two Buffalo River park sites. This year we will create at least ten new habitat areas and install hundreds of rain barrels to help reduce water pollution. This year, we will continue to revitalize parks along Buffalo’s Riverwalk.
Moreover, living within the Great Lakes system, our entire community remains rich in one of the world’s most scarce and precious resources. Not only does our fresh water allow us to grow food, move goods, generate power and recreate; but it feeds our spirit – helping to calm anxiety and restore hope in troubled times.
Thank you for everything you do to protect and restore our beautiful river. The entire RIVERKEEPER family wishes you a bright, hopeful 2010.
Julie
The Ice Boom is in!
An annual ritual here and no where else in the world, the ice boom across the end of Lake Erie was installed in December. This photo, taken by our friend Bob Knoer from his 18th-floor office in the Liberty Bank building, shows some late-season dredging in the foreground and the ice boom installation behind.
In September, the New York Power Authority broke ground on the construction of a new off-season storage site for the boom, at the foot of Hamburg Street, freeing up the existing acreage on the Lake Erie waterfront for development. This site will also be developed for a neighborhood park. Julie O'Neill talks about the new site: "We are grateful to the Power Authority, Congressman Higgins, Assemblyman Schroeder, Peg Overdorf and all our partners for their hard work in ensuring the Ice Boom’s relocation improves public paddling and fishing access to the Buffalo River. This is an important step towards creating a green, accessible waterfront for the residents of Buffalo. We look forward to the full development of the Buffalo River Greenway trail and park system."
You know how fast time flies: before you know it, the boom will be coming out of the Lake and it will be time, once again, to celebrate this ritual of spring with BoomDays! This three-day-long event celebrates the lifting of the boom with fireworks, cannon fires, EM Cotter journeys to the Ice Boom, reenactments, food, drinks, music, educational exhibits, a poetry contest, and the ceremonial dropping of the big, red, rubber ball. This year it will take place from April 15th to 17th. Keep an eye on the website www.boomdays.com for more information.
RIVERKEEPER Friends at Hard Rock Cafe
In conjunction with the Boundary Waters Treaty Week celebrations in June 2009, on Saturday, June 13th, the Hard Rock Café in Niagara Falls New York hosted a concert, featuring Donna the Buffalo, benefiting Buffalo Niagara RIVERKEEPER. Over 200 people attended. Hard Rock International designed a pin that incorporated the BWT100 logo and Hard Rock gave us a Fender guitar signed by the band to be raffled off. Proceeds from both pin sales and guitar raffle went to RIVERKEEPER.
Shown here: RIVERKEEPER Board Vice President Tom DeSantis accepting a check from Hard Rock (NY) Café’s General Manager Dominic Verni.
The Secret Life
Wintertime is a capricious season in our watershed, sliding from crisp starry night into snowy cotton-sky morning into brilliant sundrenched afternoon. Short cold days and low sun angle darken our moods and stretch patience thin. Don’t order that ticket to Phoenix just yet! Crawl on off of the couch and come experience the mystery of outdoor haunts in winter.
The week that our Buffalo River freezes is always magical. All year, we test its waters, paddle at dawn and dark, plant trees and clean up debris along its banks, launch buoys into its depths, investigate spills and gather with friends by its waters. Then the freeze comes. The river retreats into a life beneath the ice. Our interface, once reflecting current and wind, lake and headwater, and life and death beneath, becomes a silent unbroken screen. Boats and gear are stowed away.
Yet we can still go out to meet the river on foot. Snow-crushed vegetation exposes hidden contours of the landscape and unexpected animal dens. Wet, marshy areas freeze solid for easy passage. Birds appear that once hid behind leaves and animal tracks leave indisputable evidence in the snow. With a passable tracking guide even a beginner can identify exciting species, such as mink, that escape notice in greener seasons. The ice itself provides a beautiful shifting backdrop, from snow-blanketed canvas to wind-glossed mirror.
Short daylight provides an opportunity for us to embrace evening. After a brilliant red sunset, nighttime walks bring coyote song on the air, bright snow illuminates the darkened forest for easy snowshoeing, and a warm campfire draws friends and family together for undistracted, primordial bonding.
This is the season for extracting stories from our elders. The rivers were more central to the everyday lives of prior generations. When we speak to those who are still with us and read the words of those who have passed, we slide deeper into the river’s inner life. As I write, I can hear my grandmother’s voice telling of her newlywed canoe trips around a wild, bridgeless Grand Island in the 30’s, in a dress and heels, waving at the fishermen in their shacks along the shore.
Winter is also a time to look towards the future, incubate new ideas and prepare for action when the weather breaks. A recent meeting of the Black Rock Canal Park committee provided such incubation. Walking the planned park area the next morning, the river lying glassy and green under a low sun, I can picture it: people laughing hand in hand along the cantilevered walkway, picnicking under new trees, launching canoes into the waves, returning to the river. “Ice out” feels just around the corner.
`Robbyn Drake
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1250 Niagara Street | Buffalo, NY 14213 US |
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