Niagara Gorge Restoration Final Question for The Wild Ones Niagara Proposal

Addendum Question: are tasks 8 and 10 required?

Response EDR:  Yes. Documentation is the critical step of any study.  We will prepare written documentation; however the principle form of documentation is the graphic masterplan.  Spatial relationships and  the complex layering of interactions is best illustrated in a graphic plan.  “A picture is worth a thousand words.”  The graphic masterplan, a traditional tool, will be augmented by a computer generated, video fly over to clearly and concisely communicate the overall concept to the public and stakeholders.

Response WON: Tasks 8 and 10 are required and crucial. It will "be nice to have," but not "just nice to have." A project of this magnitude needs to have a visualization beyond a series of artist's sketches so that the organic unity of the entire gorge rim restoration can be appreciated. The ecological restorations, which will be different at different locations, need to be seen in a way that demonstrates the continuity and not as a fractured series of separate "projects" that sketches would present by implication. This computer generated visualization would be useful to present the vision to members of the public and political leaders and others who might be attracted to not only this project, but the entire concept of the greenway.

The objective of the Wild Ones /EDR study was driven by this question:

“if we could remove all jurisdictional boundaries and political constraints, what could we have if the Robert Moses Gorge Parkway were removed and the natural ecosystems restored in the Niagara River Greenway Plan’s core focus area?” It also provides those objecting to the study an opportunity to state, “Oh. We didn’t realize this is what you meant.”