Local greenway gets some serious green

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - A local greenway is now the recipient of some serious green. This is part of the pay-back to this area from the Niagara Power project. The Power Authority has pledged $450 million for greenway development over 50 years.

The Power Authority President Richard Kessel handed over a million dollars in support of the Niagara River Greenway which stretches from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The Greenway Ecological Standing Committee (GESC) has overseen a number of projects with this revenue stream already, including controlling invasive species at Tifft farm and Buckhorn Island as well as restoring wetlands along Gill Creek. And there's more.

Margaret Wooster, GESC Co-Chair, said, "So we also have an ecological standing committee that's funded eight projects that have to do with restoring the islands in the Niagara River, which are a big part of our eco-system here. So the fish and the birds, which make the Niagara corridor truly ecologically unique globally, are benefiting from some of these dollars that are going to restore the islands in the Niagara River."

All of these projects are subject to review by the Niagara River Greenway Commission. And again, this money handed over was agreed to under the Power Project's 50 year licensing agreement.