By Emily Volker

The city of Buffalo has a unique, turbulent past and bright future in public enjoyment of wildlands. Being a part of the rust belt along with cities such as Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago, has proved its successful contributions to the growth of these cities. During the late 19th century, products moving through this region via the Great Lakes blessed cities like Buffalo with major industrial development and prosperity. As time progresses and our role as a rust belt city begins to diminish, we are left in its wake of destruction. All along the local Niagara River, we are left with the bones of our once-booming economy that was driven by steel, grain, and coal; Silo City, Bethlehem Steel, Dupont Chemical Company, and many other sites are now ghost towns in the decline of our dependence on the trade of items described previously. 

Among these abandoned sites, lies a hidden treasure: Tifft Nature Preserve. Located on the Niagara River near the ghost of the Bethlehem Steel site, this once baron, anthropogenically affected land was brought back to life for the purpose of preservation and the City of Buffalo’s public enjoyment. Only 3 miles away from the heart of Buffalo, Tifft Nature Preserve provides the citizens of Buffalo with hiking trails, fishing, bird watching, and even snowshoeing/cross country skiing in Buffalo’s famous blustery winter months. What the public sees is only the tip of the iceberg, underneath the surface lies a dark ecological past.

This 264-acre nature preserve once served the people of Buffalo in a much different aspect: boosting the economy and our status as a major shipping port in the Great Lakes. Tifft began its life as a dairy farm owned by George Washington Tifft in the early 20th century; clear- cutting the existing forest was a necessary method of maximizing space and output for the dairy farm. Clear cutting in the beginning of the 1900s was a common practice due to the worldwide population boom and high demand for agricultural land. The process of clear cutting and its impacts on the forest and wildlife it supports were often put on the back burner as Buffalo’s main concern at the time was stimulation of the economy to support its growing population. 

 After its run as a dairy farm, the once lush marsh woodland was transformed into a major shipping and transport hub for coal and iron ore as a result of its convenience and proximity to Buffalo’s major waterways. After a history of polluted soils and clear cut land, Buffalo decided enough is enough and began the initiative of restoring the diseased land that was once such a vital part of Buffalo’s economy. In 1976 the site for trade was deemed a brownfield and began its journey in restoration.

Funded by the Greenway Ecological Fund and the Buffalo Museum of Science, Tifft is a remarkable story in the world of restoration ecology and forest management. Starting from coal and shipping chemical polluted soils and waters, Tifft has turned into an urban natural beauty.

Many amazing restoration efforts have taken place in both the water polluted by the old infrastructure and replanting native plants to help encourage the emigration of native wildlife back onto the stressed land. Altering the shoreline making it more suitable for edge favoring riparian plants, focusing on managing trees and native plants within the existing forests, and planting new trees on the once ruthlessly clear cut land, the nature preserve is returning to its utmost glory and shining in ways that people are beginning to notice. The nature preserve is now a sought after spot for bird watching by the Audubon Society and has a growing number of native species seeing success in the area. Many pioneer species such as cottonwoods and pines are beginning to seek residency in the once open dairy field and shipping port, and, I believe, that with proper restoration and forest management, this farm could one day become a mature old-growth forest for future generations to enjoy.

The work done on the nature preserve has also proven successful in removing a pesky Western New York invader: phragmites. Efforts in the removal of the reed phragmites were so successful that more than 30,000 native wetland and woodland plants have filled in the niche that phragmites once so aggressively occupied. 19 native species are able to call Tifft home as of 2016, and this is only the beginning as technological advancement and intense research are opening a plethora of new restoration opportunities and knowledge. 

Interestingly enough, there are still problems associated with Tifft, just problems of a different nature. Due to the increasing lack of human disturbance, and the increase in viable habitat for native animals, we have seen a significant increase in the local deer population. Although deer are not invasive to the Western New York area, they are considered pests on the terms of restoration and forest management projects. Due to the exponentially increasing volume of deer and the lack of local predators, forest managers are finding it hard to keep up with their grazing capabilities. Deer are like machines when it comes to munching on herbs and other shrubs in the forest understory; and many forest managers that are taking part in replanting native species for other wildlife are seeing this as a major threat. Like I said before, deer absolutely love grazing on understory plants. This includes saplings and juvenile natives such as goldenrod, and other wildflowers that foster the growth and health of our precious park. It is also detrimental to protect the saplings of trees such as the Eastern Cottonwoods and White Pines. Because these trees are considered pioneer species. Efforts still must be taken in order to alleviate the impact that the booming population of deer has on the restoration of this wildland. 

Next time you find yourself wondering what to do during this global pandemic, take a hike. Check out and support your local and restoration sites, no matter where you might live. Cities big or small constantly have projects being done to bring green space back to urban areas. Nature is therapeutic, use it to your advantage and enjoy everything it has to offer us! 

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About the author:

My name is Emily Volker I am currently attending University at Buffalo for a bachelors of science in Environmental Studies expecting to graduate in the spring of 2022 or fall of 2021. I have always been fascinated by ecology and how the world around us is constantly working and evolving. I have worked with the DNR in Michigan and plan to expand my career to the NYSDEC or further to the federal level to focus on restoration ecology and research in the distant future. I also have a side hobby of photography so I like to combine the two and take photos of nature! Follow my photography Instagram account @green.shutters to check out some of my pictures!