in the news
The Riverline to Conduct Impact Study, Seeks Community Input
March 6, 2024: The Riverline, a proposed 1.5-mile nature trail and greenway near downtown Buffalo, is entering the next phase of its development: a study to evaluate the social, economic, and environmental impacts the project will have on the community. The Riverline Study is a required step before any construction can begin. This month, The Riverline will hold three public meetings to make sure the community knows the process and timeline of the study, meets the local team, and continues to have a say in helping to shape this great public space.
Buffalo Rising: The Riverline to Conduct Impact Study
Buffalo News: Study to begin on proposed Riverline trail
Western New York Land Conservancy Announces Black Creek-Angelica Creek Land Protection Program
March 5, 2024: The Western New York Land Conservancy is pleased to announce a program to protect forests, fields, and farms in the towns of Allen, Angelica, Birdsall, Grove, and West Almond. Portions of these towns fall within the Black Creek/Angelica Creek watershed, which provides drinking water for residents in these towns and the Village of Angelica. Black and Angelica creeks also flow all the way to Lake Ontario and are part of the Great Lakes system.
Two Erie County Farms Awarded Major State Funding
January 23, 2024: Governor Kathy Hochul recently announced more than $5.5 million dollars in farmland protection grants to protect 2,100 acres of farmland across New York State, including 957 acres in Western New York. The Land Conservancy is pleased to work with the owners of Stefan Hay in North Collins and the Vacinek Farm in Sardinia to protect their family legacies as well as the productive agricultural lands on which we all rely. This announcement marks the beginning of the Land Conservancy’s work to permanently protect these two farms with a conservation easement—a legal agreement between the Land Conservancy and the landowners to keep it available for agriculture forever by limiting development.
Buffalo Business First: $1.6M in funding will help conservancy protect 957 acres of local land
Program for Landscape Maintenance Technicians to Offer Paid Training, Field Work, and Job Placement Opportunities
January 3, 2024: Buffalo Center for Arts & Technology (BCAT), The Riverline, and Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy are pleased to announce that pre-registration is now open for their 2024 Landscape Maintenance Technician training program. Funded initially with seed money from the First Niagara Foundation in 2020, the program has grown to become a pipeline for individuals to get training—and good paying jobs—in the field. The program includes both on-site and online training and is scheduled to conclude just as many landscape maintenance employers are seeking seasonal employees. In March, BCAT and The Riverline will host a job fair where participants will meet employers—and potentially secure jobs.
WKBW: 'It's really a path forward': Program creating skilled workers in Buffalo's landscaping industry
Partnership for the Public Good: Sustainable Futures podcast
Community Reaches Fundraising Goal, Western New York Land Conservancy Acquires the Floating Fen and Becker Preserve
January 3, 2024: The Western New York Land Conservancy and the Friends of Floating Fen are pleased to announce that the community has reached their fundraising goal to save the Floating Fen, and they officially purchased the property on December 29th. The Floating Fen is an incredibly diverse property that’s home to a unique wetland that includes a bog-like area, “the floating fen,” from which the new preserve derives its name. Every summer, the floating fen comes alive with a carpet of blue flag iris, carnivorous sundews, and a trove of rare plants. The surrounding forest also teems with porcupines, beavers, fishers, great flocks of migratory songbirds, and other wildlife.
Dunkirk Observer: 'Fen'-tastic news: Conservancy purchases diverse area land
Chautauqua Today: WNY Land Conservancy acquires Floating Fen
East Aurora Advertiser: Two additional parcels of land now preserved by Land Conservancy