A pair of state agencies are awarding just under $200,000 to environmental groups, and more than half of that is heading to Western New York.
Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper is among those receiving a $40,000 grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and New York Sea Grant, through the Great Lakes Basin Small Grants Project.
The waterkeeper’s grant will help restore shorelines at Tonawanda’s Sheridan Park.
Having multiple groups receive funding shows the importance of the area’s waterways and nearby ecosystems, Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper Deputy Executive Director Kerrie Gallo said.
“You can do some matchmaking between groups who have the technical expertise, the institutional experience, the practical experience to take that money and put it in the ground and have an outcome of an improved water quality scenario,” she said.
Among other local groups, the Western New York Land Conservancy also is receiving $40,000, and Genesee County Parks will get just shy of that amount.
The land conservancy funding will go toward removal of invasive plants and landowner education.
The grants are a testament to the quality of work being done by local groups, WNY Land Conservancy Development and Communications Director Andrew Gaerte said.
“The fact that you're seeing so much of this award going to Western New York speaks to the health and good work that organizations like the Western New York Land Conservancy and our partners Waterkeeper are doing in our region,” he said.
The conservancy’s funds will help root out flora like mugwort that causes a nuisance for native plant life at Kenneglenn Scenic Nature Sanctuary and Mossy Point Preserve. But even then, it’s not a one-and-done solution, Gaerte said.
That’s why education is another important aspect, so private landowners also know what to look for on their properies.
“When they out compete these native plants, oftentimes they create situations where you develop an invasive plant monoculture,” he said. “That means it's the only plant growing in the area, and that just is not good for biodiversity.”
Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper will use its grant money to round out funds for restoration along two water systems in Sheridan Park. The group also has about $640,000 from the Greenway Ecological Standing Committee and $100,000 from the New York Pollinator Conservation Fund.
That money will help with the restoration of Two Mile Creek and West Pond at the park, as well as creating a walking path between the two areas, Gallo said.
“If you can put some plants in there that have deeper roots and have the ability to absorb pollutants, now you're doing you're doing some really great things for habitat,” she said. “And you're providing some water quality improvement.”
