Habitat restoration at Ralph Wilson Park in Buffalo, New York

In Buffalo, New York, efforts are underway to transform the city’s largest riverfront park and better connect the local community to the Niagara River. This extensive project involves completely redesigning and rebuilding the former 100-acre LaSalle Park into the new Ralph Wilson Park. NOAA funding helps create coastal wetland habitat and shoreline restoration in part of the park. This will protect the area from storms and flooding while providing habitat for native Great Lakes fish.

Building a community vision

Located along the shore where the Niagara River meets Lake Erie, the park offers visitors waterfront views, walking and biking trails, and other amenities such as athletic fields and a children’s park. dogs. Since its opening in the 1930s, the park has been an asset to the community, but there were also areas for improvement. A highway separates the park from neighboring neighborhoods, making it difficult for nearby residents to easily and safely access the park. The park has nearly a mile of waterfront shoreline, but there was no access to the water for activities such as boating and fishing. The hardened coastline also limited the amount of habitat available for fish and wildlife.

The park has also been plagued by flooding. As winds and waves move across western Lake Erie, they gain strength, move toward the mouth of the Niagara River, and collide with the park’s shorelines. This caused severe erosion and flooding, and the concrete sea wall began to deteriorate. With climate change causing stronger and more frequent storms, the park needed a change to improve the resilience and safety of the coastline.

In 2018, lead funding from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation led to the creation of “Imagine LaSalle» – a community-led initiative to transform the park. With input from more than 1,200 community members and stakeholders, partners worked to design a park that better meets the needs of the community. The $110 million effort will include new and renovated amenities, public water access and a new pedestrian bridge that will safely connect the community to the park and waterfront. THE Ralph Wilson Park Conservatory is a nonprofit organization created to realize the community’s transformative vision for the waterfront park.

Supporting fisheries and climate resilience

As part of a larger effort, NOAA provided more than $13 million to the Great Lakes Commission through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The funding helps eliminate seawall collapse and improve coastal resilience. New areas of coastal wetlands will provide habitat for fish and other species, while helping to filter pollution and protect the area from flooding. Shoals will also be constructed to help protect the new wetlands and restored coastline from waves and erosion.

This habitat restoration work is a step toward eventually removing the Niagara River from the list of Great Lakes Areas of Concern. These are areas where the poor condition of a waterway affects the environment, human health and the local economy. The Niagara River was declared an area of ​​concern in the late 1980s due to a number of issues, including loss of fish and wildlife habitat. NOAA’s work in the Great Lakes helps restore these degraded areas and provide habitat for Great Lakes fisheries.

A partnership effort

NOAA’s habitat restoration work is just one part of this multifaceted effort to transform the waterfront. Dozens of partners were involved throughout the planning, design and construction process, including:

• The town of Buffalo
• New York State
• Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation
• Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper
• Great Lakes Commission
• Buffalo Urban Development Corporation
• New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
• US Army Corps of Engineers
• Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo
• University at Buffalo Regional Institute
• Additional partners