Defining the Niagara River Greenway

Mr. Tom Lyons, Director
Environmental Management Bureau
NYS OPRHP
Agency Building, 17th Floor
Empire State Plaza
Albany, NY 12238

Re: Comments on Draft Generic Environmental Impact Study for Niagara River Greenway

Dear Mr. Lyons:
When was the last time someone asked you to do something great?

In the Niagara River Corridor, we’ve been asked to do something great. We’ve been gifted with an opportunity to not only do something but were given the funds to create and preserve something magnificent and we’re not doing well in living up to that opportunity.

After attending 18 months of Citizens Advisory Committee, and Niagara Greenway Commission meetings, and one Local Government Advisory meeting this is what I observed:

1.
The design team and the Niagara River Greenway Commissioners neglected or refused to
educate themselves, the general public, the business communities, and the local government leaders on
[A] what eco-tourism is and what the eco-tourist looks for,
[B] what a genuine greenway in its purest form is,
[C] the social, economic, health, environmental, and quality of life benefits communities reap by creating sections of a genuine, non-motorized greenway and
[D] what “pollution-based prosperity” is.

According to an interview given by Bobby Kennedy Jr., Good environmental policy is identical to good economic policy 100 percent of the time. We can measure the economy in one of two ways. We can base ourassessment on whether the economy produces jobs of dignity over the long-termand preserves our community assets. Or we can do what the polluters are urging us to do: treat the planet as if it were a business in liquidation and convert our natural resources into cash as quickly as possible. This is pollution-based prosperity. It creates the illusion of a prosperous economy, but our children will pay for our joyride. They will pay for it with denuded landscapes, poor health,and huge cleanup costs. Environmental injury is deficit spending. It loads the costof our generation’s prosperity onto the backs of our children.

…Environmentalism has become the most important civil rights issue. The role of government is to protect the commons: the air we breathe, the water we drink, the fisheries, the wildlife, the public lands. Those resources are our social safety net.

…The environment is the infrastructure of our communities. As a nation, as a civilization, it’s our obligation to create communities for our children that provide them with opportunities for dignity and good health. When we destroy nature, we diminish ourselves and impoverish our children. We ignore that at our own peril.
(O The Oprah Magazine, Feb. 2007, page 230-234)

2.
The predetermined ownership of the funds and the focus of the Niagara River Greenway were in place long before the process was officially implemented making two-county consensus almost impossible to achieve. This became public knowledge at the November 2006 Local Gov. Advisory Meeting, Beaver Island State Park.

The proof: When the Co-chair of the Niagara County Environmental Management Council, Gail Walder, asked the greenway planners and Commissioner Ron Moline, Chairman of the Local Gov. Advisory Committee, “If the municipalities do not accept the Niagara River Greenway Plan, what happens to the money?” Mr. Warren Kahn, attorney for the Power Coalition member, Lewiston-Porter School District, stated that, “if the plan is not adopted we have already agreed to meet with NYPA and to renegotiate our funds.” (For some reason, the Niagara Gazette omitted this statement from the subsequent newspaper article.)

3.
In documenting Olmsted, the planners omitted several key points and philosophies. The National Association of Olmsted Parks (NAOP) (www.olmsted.org) identifies: …examples of the many kinds of designs by which the profession of landscape architecture could improve the quality of life in America. These included the large urban park, devoted primarily to the experience of scenery and designed so as to counteract the artificiality of the city and the stress of urban life; the parkway; the scenic reservation, protecting areas of special scenic beauty from destruction and commercial exploitation…

His principal projects in each category are:
1. Scenic reservation: the Niagara Reservation (1887)
2. Parkways: Bidwell and Chapin Parkways, Buffalo (1870)(wide, residential boulevards)
3. Park system: Buffalo-Delaware Park

Olmsted believed that it was the purpose of his art to affect the emotions. This was especially evident in his park design, where he created passages of scenery in which the visitor would become immersed; experiencing the restorative action of the landscape by what Olmsted termed an “unconscious” process. To achieve this result, he subordinated all elements of the design to the single purpose of making the landscape experience most profound. Olmsted always sought to look beyond the current taste and fashion and to base his designs on fundamental principals of
human psychology. As Olmsted expressed it, the term “scenery” does not apply to any field of vision in which all that is to be seen is clear and well defined in outline. References quoted: Beveridge, Charles, et al

Note: (Mr. Beveridge is the same resource two of the Niagara Heritage Partnership (NHP) founders used when they filmed “Fading in the Mist,” the award-winning, PBS documentary about the ongoing scenic destruction of Niagara Falls. A copy of this documentary was mailed to NYS OSPRHP Commissioner, Bernadette Castro. Our understanding from her is that she did not view the film.)

The NAOP’s Advocacy Role: Frederick Law Olmsted was more than a park designer; he was the leading voice for the provision of healthful, accessible and beautiful greenspaces for all citizens. Today, the NAOP sees its role in much the same way. This network preserves specific places and ensures that the Olmsted ideals of high quality design, abundance of natural elements and democratic accommodations are part of the modern parks movement.

4.
Strategic Pataki appointments and on-going ethics violations were ignored or dismissed. Former Gov. Pataki appointed the NYPA chairman, the NYS Parks Commissioner, the members of the Niagara Greenway Commission, the Secretary of State (this person oversees the Ethics Commission and is a Niagara Greenway Commissioner), he appoints members of the Ethics Commission and members to the Department of Transportation. Before leaving office he appointed the former NYPA chairman and local developer, Louis Ciminelli, to the NRG, replacing Commissioner Michael Cornell.

The Conservation Fund’s book, Greenways: A Guide to Planning, Design, and Development, states in its preface “even federal agencies involved in creating greenways concede that a top-down approach doesn’t work.” After reading the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Study (DGEIS) for Niagara River Greenway (NRG) and watching the forming of the Niagara Greenway, it’s become increasingly clear that The Conservation Fund’s statement is valid.

5.
The Niagara River Greenway’s DGEIS plan outlines eleven guiding principals and anticipates regional and governmental compliance. Yet, over half of those principals have already been either blatantly ignored or violated by members of the design team, some members of the NRG, two Niagara County Chambers of Commerce, and the Niagara Power Coalition the group that ultimately decides the fate of any suggested projects in Niagara County. (Please see the attached letter requesting an ethics investigation and other supporting documentation)

The Niagara Heritage Partnership’s (www.niagaraheritage.org) proposal for four lane parkway removal—between Niagara Falls and Lewiston—not only epitomizes every draft plan guiding principal, it’s actually a proposal for a genuine greenway that meets and exceeds every guiding principal put forth by the Wendel Duchscherer design team and the Niagara River Greenway Commission.

Despite the fact that NHP, as a NYPA relicensing stakeholder, was informed during the NYPA relicensing process that this issue of road removal, reclamation, and restoration would be addressed in the Niagara Greenway venue as it was “project specific,” this team of experts refused to support or implement their own guiding principals and proved this by omitting the NHP proposal. In fact, at the Citizens’ Advisory Meeting, held the same night as the revealing Gov. Advisory Meeting, Mr, Mistretta flatly stated that he “is not changing the plan.”

6.
The planners left off the “conceptual plan” every project the Niagara Frontier Wildlife Habitat Council put forth.

If the genuine greenway proposal and genuine greenway conservation and environmental
concepts put forth by NHP and the Habitat Council can be erroneously perceived by some as detrimental and lacking quality of life merit and economic value, what then is the widely accepted, genuine definition of a Greenway, according to viewpoints of other nonbiased states in the nation who have successfully implemented them?

The Conservation Fund’s American Greenways Program:
First, greenways offer a way to preserve vital habitat corridors, and to promote plant and animal species diversity. A greenway serves as a critical filtering zone, absorbing contaminates in surface runoff, and trees, and shrubs, and cover vegetation along the corridor cleanse and replenish the air. Greenways provide much needed space for outdoor recreation. It is ideally suited to such popular outdoor activities as jogging, walking, biking, fishing, and canoeing. They
provide safe, alternative, non-motorized transportation routes. Greenways link us to our communities, and, by lessening our dependence on the automobile, can improve air quality and reduce road congestion.

Greenways offer a way to protect our nation’s cultural heritage. They give us access to buildings of historic and architectural significance. They allow us to look back at our past and our traditions—to revisit remnants of settlements and the industrial centers that define our history. Greenways can help preserve the rural character of a community or safeguard areas of visual interest by protecting ridgelines, river corridors, and scenic resources. A greenway offers visual relief; its wooded breaks can frame and distinguish neighborhoods. Greenways are community amenities with an economic value. Greenways enhance the quality of life and can increase the value of surrounding properties. Greenway have been shown to draw tourists and have
been the catalyst behind new commercial development and the revitalization of former town centers.

Greenways Incorporated:
Two-thirds of all the trips we make are for a distance of five miles or less. Greenway trails, as part of a local or regional system, offer transportation alternatives by connecting homes, workplaces, schools, parks, planning centers and cultural attractions. Using trails to bicycle or walk for short-distance trips reduces air pollution and increases the mobility of those who cannot drive.

Greenways have been proven to attract and retain tourists and expand tourism revenues in many communities. A case in point is the Tallahassee-St.Marks Trail in Florida where approximately 170,000 people visit each year. A study from the real estate industry revealed that “walking and biking paths” ranked 3rd among 39 features indentified by homebuyers as crucial factors in their homemakingdecisions (1994 American Lives Study).

Cleveland/ Bradley County Greenway:
Greenways provide alternate transportation corridors; provide great economic returns to a region. Increased tourism and the resulting business growth add to the tax base and create jobs for residents. Greenways provide an excellent place for learning about ecology, often serving as living laboratories for students. People who live in communities that have greenways find these natural corridors become an integral part of an enriched quality of life.

New Bear Creek Greenway Site, Oregon
Paths are paved, suitable for walkers, joggers, bicyclists, skaters, strollers, and wheelchair users. Motorized vehicles, with the exception of maintenance vehicles and wheelchairs, are prohibited. The greenway is essential for preserving both the quality of Bear Creek’s water and its unique stream-side habitat. This corridor is a refuge for animals and it will increase in importance as population in Bear Creek grows. The enviable quality of life enjoyed by Bear Creek Valley residents is further enhanced by the existence of the Greenway.

Mission statement: The mission of the Bear Creek Greenway Foundation is to support acquiring land, restoring and protecting habitat, enhancing safety and security, constructing trails for the benefit of the general public. The Greenway trail will provide more alternative access to parks, and other destinations along the Greenway. The Greenway trail will allow families, individuals, and school classes access to places to observe wildlife.

Trails and Greenways Clearinghouse
Benefits of trails and greenways: creating new opportunities for outdoor recreation and non-motorized transportation; strengthening local economies, protecting the environment, preserving culturally and historically valuable areas.

Mr. Lyons, we recognized at the Stakeholders forum the close relationship Robert Moses, NYPA, and NYS OSPRHP have had for over fifty years and we realize that contemplating the removal of a road dedicated to him might border on the sacrilegious for NYPA and State Parks, but we are respectfully asking the Niagara Greenway Plan embrace the Olmsted Philosophies underlined in section 3 and as stated in the legislation that created the Niagara Greenway Commission.

We trust that you, Mr. Lyons, as a representative of the lead agency, and ultimately, Ms. Carol Ash, the new State Parks Commissioner, will recognize the creation of the Niagara River Greenway means more than the flow of dollars. It’s also about core values, civility, and working toward a common good that should benefit every individual, not just support the commercial goals of a very select few.


Enclosures:
October 30, 2006 Ethics Investigation Request Letter
October 30, 2006 Letter to Commissioner Castro re: DeVeaux Woods State Park
NYPA Timeline
April 21, 2006 Legislative Gazette, Letter to the Editor, Definition of a Greenway
Webpage printouts:
[1] Parkway Preservation Committee Members (revised by them, see original list
attached to Ethics Investigation Request Letter)
[2] Niagara USA Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors
[3] Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority
[4] Buffalo Olmsted Parks Board of Trustees – Note Long-Range Planners
[5] Buffalo Rising Blog: Hello Niagara Power Coalition: “Greening Your Pockets?”

National Association for Olmsted Parks - Economic Benefits, Parks Practices

City parks are dynamic institutions that play a vital, but not fully appreciated or understood role in the social, economic, and physical well-being of America's cities and its residents. Dating back to the 19th century when Frederick Law Olmsted introduced the first large-scale city parks to this country, these green spaces provided relief from urban intensity for city residents and brought people together across social, economic and racial divides. In the postwar years, when the population shifted away from urban centers, our nation's city parks suffered enormously from disinvestments and many are still experiencing it.

As cities across the country are attracting millions of residents again, the center of this sweeping urban renaissance are newly revitalized parks. They are not only safe and beautiful, but also serve as green engines to help address nearly every critical urban need from health to housing, to education and environmental justice, and countering sprawl to combating crime. This massive movement to rebuild America's forgotten city parks now includes thousands of community partnerships and millions of volunteers.

The Parks Practices Web site has been developed by the City Parks Alliance (CPA) and National Association for Olmsted Parks (NAOP) partnership to assist local parks in meeting their current needs more effectively as they encounter the ever present challenges in preserving, maintaining, operating and funding their parks and in serving their increasingly diverse constituents. Park leaders have developed innovative approaches to address these issues, responding to a changing economic climate where public budgets for city parks have been reduced and the reliance on the public sector grows. The site seeks to highlight the experience of CPA and NAOP members both successes and failures, facilitate a sharing of lessons learned, and provide opportunities for interaction among city park leaders and citizen groups. It is hoped that through this effort there will be greater investment in city parks across the country and a renewed interest in their role as centers of our common heritage. (Source: National Association for Olmsted Parks)

A Fairy Tale About Trolls by ER Baxter III

A FAIRY TALE ABOUT TROLLS
(“lawnmower,” concrete poem, (detail) 1972 E.R. Baxter III)

Once upon a time, long, long ago, in a magical land far, far away from most people, there was a beautiful waterfall. This sparkling river leapt and thundered into a deep gorge, sending up clouds of mist where sun rays made rainbows, and through which birds soared, disappearing and appearing again. The gorge and its rim were rich with forests of giant, ancient trees and wildflower meadows.

Slowly, as the years passed, factories and other manmade things gobbled up the beauty of natural landscapes that used to be everywhere. Still, what remained caused some people to notice that the river and its shorelines was a wonderful home for wild birds and they named this place a Globally Significant Important Bird Area.

Then others, as if waking from a long dreaming, said, "But there is an ugly concrete road running right through it! All the wildflower meadows are either sleeping under the concrete or cut into little pieces by lawnmowers!" They looked at one another, eyes wide in wonderment, and said altogether as if with one voice, "Let's ask that the ugly road be removed!"

But others, upon hearing this, said, "No! No! It's a globally significant important road! We love it! God gave us this road! So we have a God-given right to drive on it! Didn't God's most important prophet, Moses, build it for us? We drive back and forth on it all the time and if we do this long enough it will lead us to heaven!"

*

And the story must stop here, in this land where magic flutes still play faintly in the distance. Now you are probably saying to yourself, “What the hell kind of fairy tale is this? It doesn't have an ending! Nobody gets to live happily ever after?” Well, grow up. You expected a fairy tale because of the title?

Would you like to know where this place is, with its distant music waiting to be reborn? Visit www.niagaraheritage.org and sign the petition to help us remove the road. Do you know of a courageous politician who loves the natural world? Ask that person to help restore this little part of it. If the politician tries to tell you it's the road to heaven, don't you believe it. It’s more likely to be a road to that Other Place, anyway. It is an ugly, ugly road, filled with evil spirits. Trolls who love concrete more than trees come out from under their bridges and creep around on this road at night. Do not go there after dark.


The End

What We Expected From Niagara's Leaders

Leadership carries expectations. We expect leaders to think independently and omit private agendas. We assume the elected will be progressive and well informed. We expect them to include everyone when planning economic development. Leadership actions and closed-meeting decisions affect us all.

When making public statements, we expect leaders to have reviewed the facts. If they have not, then we expect integrity. We expect them to withhold opinion until thorough research occurs.

Here are some facts about the Robert Moses Gorge Parkway (RMP)—the section between Niagara Falls and Lewiston.

Fact: Other than Legislator Renee Kimble, Mayor Paul Dyster, and the Niagara Falls City Council, no elected official, Commission, or Authority in Niagara County has requested information from the Niagara Heritage Partnership (NHP).

Fact: The “recent meeting with concerned citizens to discuss parkway removal” excluded the NHP and their advocates.

Fact: The RMP removal “debate” truly is “the few against the many.” Over 1 million people, tourists, residents, and 80 organizations supporting the NHP proposal, want Niagara Falls and the Niagara River gorge reclaimed, restored, and preserved. They want to experience a natural landscape, a magnificent, scenic wonder.

Fact: The RMP is a cars only, no commercial traffic road. As to the “abandoned section of the former parkway,” that’s a clear example of how and why compromise on the RMP fails.

Okay, “let’s pretend the RMP disappears.” Let’s ignore Lewiston Road, too. That eliminates the DeVeaux neighborhood, Maple Avenue School argument.

Fact: There are alternative routes between Niagara Falls and Lewiston. The I-190 and Military Road (route 265) are major links. Witmer and Porter Packard are available exits into Niagara Falls, also.

Fact: Tourists follow signage. They use the routes indicated.

Fact: The I-190 is “the best and most efficient way to travel” in either direction between Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Lewiston.

Fact: Traffic going north to Youngstown can use exit 25A. Keep left, merge onto the RMP, and continue to Old Fort Niagara.

Fact: Travelers using the RMP bypass every business district in Niagara Falls, including Main Street and Pine Avenue, and they bypass Main Street, Youngstown.

Fact: That cripples business.

Fact: Removing the RMP will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, temporary and permanent.

Fact: RMP removal will reinvigorate our challenged local economy. It will infuse billions of dollars in heritage tourist revenue. A dozen cities that removed roads provided the figures quoted. I’d love to share this information with you. It’s exciting to embrace opportunity and know it includes and benefits us all.

Fact: Removing the RMP and restoring the native species capitalizes on our urban old growth forest, the Underground Railroad, and our Native American legacies as experiential, walkable history sites. This documented approach emulates Oregon’s Wagon Train route and Missouri’s Lewis and Clark Expedition. It involves and keeps tourists much longer than a day or two. It educates.

Fact: NHP acquiesced on their preservation vision for the gorge region. They backed up to the Niagara Falls north city line.

Reluctance to compromise has nothing to do with a “take no prisoner’s mentality.” In actuality, clandestine organizing to keep the road holds Niagara Falls’ businesses hostage.

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Niagara Heritage Partnership Petition Quote

“What kind of madman would totally barricade Niagara Falls from one of the most beautiful riverfronts in the world with a wall of concrete that wasn't needed 40 years ago and sure as hell isn't needed now? A New York City meglomaniac who valued vehicles over people, who tore up entire neighborhoods without giving a damn for countless numbers of residents. Robert Moses and his environmentally ravaging monuments to himself have been shown to be blatantly outdated relics of an unenlightened past. The time has come to move on. Everyone on this petition should contact the New York State Office of Parks in Albany and keep screaming until they Tear Down This Bloody Wall!”
--Bill Michelmore, Buffalo News Reporter (retired) Amherst, NY

Don't Move Firewood - Prevent Emerald Ash Borer Infestation

Give me a chance to reach many people with one simple sermon and I'll pulpit pound about native plants and trees, pollinators, and the importance bees.

A tiny emerald ash borer centered on penny won’t cover Lincoln’s image. Space remains. The iridescent, metallic green bug is beautiful and deadly. It kills every ash tree it infects in 2-3 years. NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets and the Department of Environmental Conservation confirmed the first occurrence on June 17, 2009 in Randolph, NY (Cattaraugus County.)

Paul A. Weston, Department of Entomology, Cornell University, noted "some have predicted this insect will mean the end of ash trees in North America, similar to the fate of chestnut trees following the arrival of chestnut blight on these shores.
The bug's economic impact is in the billions. An Ohio Department of Natural Resources study estimated there to be more than 3.8 billion ash trees in Ohio, with standing timber valued at more than $1 billion.

Cornell's ForrestConnect Webinar discussed the insect, its impacts, and courses of action: Don't Move Firewood. Methods for eradication include purple sticky traps, chemicals, and biosurveillance. A native predatory wasp, Cerceis fumipenns, transported to invested sites is proving effective. Early detection and rapid response is important. Look at and inventory your trees. Identify resources. Make treatment decisions - treat the tree or take it down.