The Buffalo Billion’s missing ingredient

At his recent regional State of the State address held at the University of Buffalo, Governor Andrew Cuomo touted the Buffalo Billion Part 2, a collection of 25 publically-aided projects that will allegedly grow and inspire the local economy.

As with the first installment of the Billion, the focus was on manufacturing, healthcare and life sciences, tourism, and infrastructure. While most of the lager sectors of the economy had a gift thrown their way, one of WNY’s most significant remained conspicuously absent from these economic development plans – agriculture.

At first glance, that makes sense, because the announced goal of the Buffalo Billion was to excite some of the destitute urban areas in Buffalo and Niagara Falls in an effort to help those city centers rise from the ranks of rust belt ghost towns. Rural WNY got the short shrift under such a concept. Plus, with hundreds of individual farms in the area, how do you invest in something that wouldn’t benefit a few but could benefit all? 

But, if you look at the human aspect of the Buffalo Billion – that is, by investing in the region you can help improve the socioeconomic status people living in the urban areas – there’s a way that local ag can be tied into it for the betterment of many.

Currently, various hardscrabble neighborhoods in the Queen City and the Falls are bereft of access to produce. Called “food deserts” by urban planners, those communities-within-a-community don’t have farmers markets -- let alone grocery stores in most cases -- and residents have to rely on whatever is in walking distance or near a public transit stop (and carrying groceries on a bus is no easy task). Because of the reliance on small marts and convenience stores, those families are left to diets of processed foods and canned goods, with fresh fruit and vegetables being a rarely enjoyed nicety. It’s no wonder that poor neighborhoods have unconscionably high rates of diabetes and heart disease.

Food deserts have not only created a public health crisis but they also drain the economy because those who live in food deserts are likely to be Medicaid recipients, and the outlays of public funds to address their illnesses are incredible.

Administrators of the Buffalo Billion could address the health of those residents and the economy by tackling the root cause of this situation – lack of access to healthy foods and the inability of local farms to get good foods to those who need it most.

An appropriate use of state economic funds would be the development of sustainable, year-long cooperatives and/or farmers markets with SNAP (food stamp) compliance strategically staged in the various food deserts. Those oases would provide the neighboring populations with healthy foodstuff and ingredients within reach of their homes.

There are many successful examples of such public-private initiatives that can be found across the country.

The East End Food Co-op in Pittsburgh was created by a Steel City ministry to address their food deserts –  it serves 11,000 households and has 90 employees. The Hendersonville, North Carolina co-op saw a 2016 expansion that allows the health food store to serve 2,800 member homes. The New Orleans Food Co-Op opened in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and makes produce available to its 3,700 limited-income members.

There are dozens more examples of programs successfully combatting food deserts in cities similar in economic make-up to ours. Local city and state officials wouldn’t necessarily have to re-invent the wheel, they could learn from and feed off the successes of those markets.

But, it takes a considerable initial investment to make such programs work. Building and marketing a dozen stores selling locally-grown produce in poverty-stricken areas of WNY? That’s chump change to something that touts itself as a billion dollar initiative.

Are you listening, Albany? There are a lot of Western New Yorkers hungry for change…but there are many more who are just plain hungry.       

From the 16 January 2017 Greater Niagara Newspapers 

EXPLORING THE NIAGARA FRONTIER: The Kanyoo Nature Trail

Swallow Hollow, which we profiled in this column in 2016, is far and away the most popular hiking trail in the Iroquois Wildlife Refuge, sometimes affectionately known as the “Alabama Swamps.”

Second on that list, and a distant second at that, is the Kanyoo nature trail.

That’s odd, given the accessibility of the Kanyoo trail. It’s not off the beaten path like Swallow Hollow. It’s on Route 77, just down the street from the extremely popular waterfowl and bald eagle overlooks.

Maybe it’s the fact that the entrance to the trail doesn’t look very inviting. Most folks might not even think there’s a trail there at all. You can chalk that up to the presence of a barn in the parking lot, which might lead people to believe that it’s a worksite for the refuge’s employees.

Don’t let that façade fool you. The Kanyoo trail offers an excellent jaunt.

The stone parking lot next to that barn has parking for approximately 25 cars and in the winter months it is plowed, making this a trail for all seasons.

Next to some interpretive signage along the lot, you will see a stone path head into the woods.

From there, you are granted various types of nature watching – from forest to wetland.

Especially in the spring and early summer, you will be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of birds present in those habitats along the trail – you could conceivably see 50 species of birds on one short trip. It’s no wonder the trail has the name of Kanyoo – it’s an Iroquois word that means “wildlife”.

The forest is impressive, it has a great canopy created by some large maples and tulip trees. I am especially impressed with the size of many of the cherry trees along the trail. The photo accompanying this column shows a particularly large specimen.

Thanks to the abundance of large trees, there is limited thick underbrush which allows excellent growth of wildflowers in the spring. Bring a camera, because the forest floor is graced by trilliums, partridge berries, Canada mayflowers, and may apples. At the same time you see those flowers, keep your eyes to the sky, as the forest is home to thrushes, tanagers and vireos, and popular migratory stopover for countless warblers.

As you head deeper into the woods, you will encounter vernal pools in the low spots in the spring, affording vast breeding grounds for toads and frogs. If you visit on the right warm spring day, your ears will be overwhelmed by the cacophony of courting amphibians.

Make sure you have binoculars with you, because the trail will take you into a marsh. There, a well-maintained 400-foot long boardwalk takes you over the water putting you into perfect viewing of a monstrous, sprawling marsh that might be 300 to 400 acres in size as it opens to the northeast.

There, you can observe countless wetland birds from herons to egrets to coots and rails. During the migratory peak, you will see hundreds of ducks and geese in the area.

The center of the boardwalk sports a seating area if you want to take a load off your feet or have a pleasant picnic. There are numerous other benches throughout the trail system, too.

The Kanyoo nature trail is a mile and a third in total length if you take both sub-trails. The blue trail is almost one mile long and that is the trail that features the boardwalk. The less popular yellow branch should not be overlooked – it is two-thirds of a mile long and goes through old growth forests before coming close to a narrower portion of the marsh. Both parts of the Kanyoo nature trail have some interpretive signage pointing out key parts of the ecosystem.

The trail is perfectly flat and well-groomed, make it family-friendly. Young and old can hike it with ease and a stroller can easily navigate it. That flatness also makes it popular with cross-country skiers in the winter months; it gives them an excellent workout in an enjoyable environment.

The next time you visit the Iroquois Wildlife Refuge, make it a point to explore the Kanyoo trail – it gives nature lovers some easy access to interesting wildlife. 



From the 12 January 2017 All WNY News

How to recertify your pistol permit

When my fellow handgun owners and I applied for pistol permits we did so with the understanding that they were lifetime permits, revocable only by our moving out of state or committing a crime.

Then along came the NY SAFE Act in 2013 which changed the whole landscape of gun ownership in the Empire State. Among the tenets of that law was the requirement to recertify those once unlimited pistol permits every 5 years with 2018 being the initial deadline.

This made for 3 years of hand-wringing by gun owners, because the process itself remained nebulous. What would recertification entail? Would we have to take the safety course all over again? Would we have to resubmit to background and reference checks?

This came to a head with public officials last month, as county clerks across the state went to the press and sent letters to Albany voicing their displeasure over the same unknown. After all, as with the initial phase of the permitting process, the NY SAFE Act originally expressed that clerks and county sheriffs would be responsible for recertification, too.

Then, magically, on the first business day of 2017, everyone was given guidance – and from an unlikely source. Suddenly, the New York State Troopers were granted control of pistol permit renewals. This will end up saving property tax payers millions, because individual recertification databases and processes on a county-by-county basis would have been overwhelming – imagine the extra hours and duties for clerk staff trying to meet with 30,000 permit holders in Niagara County alone.

The process was made easy, too, and many of the reservations we had about it are gone. Classes, interviews, and references aren’t necessary. Instead, it’s just some basic data entry.

To recertify your pistol permit, visit the website troopers.ny.gov/Firearms. There, you can either download a paper application that you can mail to the state or you can fill out an online form.

The whole process takes no more than 10 minutes; just be sure to have your driver’s license and pistol permit handy. You will be updating your personal information and entering every single handgun that you own – manufacturer, model, serial number and co-registration with spouse if that applies. It’s that simple.

Many will find this to be an exercise in futility because we all know that the state already has the information – it was entered when you got your permit and it is updated every time you purchase a pistol.

But, that hassle is far better than the alternative. It could have been a bigger hassle to renew and one that could have further eroded our Second Amendment rights. 

You also have some time to get this done. Recertifications are currently only required for those permits originally issued before January 15, 2013. If your permit was issued before January 15, 2013, the deadline to submit your recertification is January 31, 2018.

But, the sooner you apply, the better. Don’t procrastinate and hold out till a year from now – the State Police still have to review and rubber stamp every single application, and you don’t want to get backlogged when there are nearly 2 million pistol permit holders in the state.

From the 09 January 2017 Greater Niagara Newspapers

 

EXPLORING THE NIAGARA FRONTIER: Birdwatching projects to pass the winter months

The feeding of songbirds is incredibly popular in rural Western New York. A majority of homes have one or more bird feeders. This writer maintains two sunflower stations, a nyjer feeder, and a suet basket. It’s birdwatchers like us who allow every hardware and feed store on the Niagara Frontier to sell literally tons of seed each season.

Bird feeding makes for a nice pastime in our long winters -- many of the visitors, like cardinals and blue jays, add a lot of color to what can sometimes be a depressing winter landscape.  Most people don’t know that it can also be a tool for science. By monitoring what species of birds and how many of each visit feeders, ornithologists can track any number of factors, such as irruptions of birds, the spread of disease, and population declines.

While the scientists can’t watch the bird activity from everyone’s kitchen window, you can watch from yours and share your observations with them. This is done through two different programs…Feedwatch and the Great backyard Bird Count.

FeederWatch

The FeederWatch program is run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada. It began in Canada in 1976 and 10 years later its scope was expanded to all of North America. What started as a simple endeavor with 500 participants has grown into a mammoth project that sees 20,000 citizen scientists sharing their observations every year. The Feederwatch staff of six takes in all the data from those observations and use it to analyze trends and, in turn, drive their peers in the bird sciences and conservation to conduct studies and implement environmental policy.

It’s a critical program that does have great merit. The Feederwatch team likes to use the painted bunting as an example. Feederwatch data from Florida showed that the winter population of the bunting declined steadily starting in the late-1980s, at an alarming rate of 4 percent per year. Those findings led the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission to begin a systematic monitoring program of bunting populations so they could learn how to protect them and save them from becoming endangered.

It’s quite easy to lend them a hand in tracking birds. You register with Feederwatch at their website (feederwatch.org) which, despite your volunteerism, requires an $18 participation fee which is necessary to keep the program alive, after all, it’s a non-profit (for that, you will also receive the annual report and the regular Cornell Lab newsletter).

From there, you create your own profile that identifies your observation site and its location. That site must be one that attracts birds from something that you have provided, be it bird feeders, bird baths, or plantings. Over the course of two consecutive days of each week (most birders choose the weekend), you record what species of birds visited your yard and how many of a specific species were present at one time. This is done mid-November to early-April, typically the period when most northerners keep their feeders filled.

Beyond just entering data, the Feederwatch community has a lot to offer participants. There are blogs, photo contests, profiled observers, an email newsletter, a Facebook and more, all of which allow you to share your observations in greater detail and learn from and appreciate the findings of others.

The Great Backyard Bird Count

If weekly counts are too much of a commitment and $18 is too much of an investment, there’s always the one-time free Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC).

Launched in 1998 by the aforementioned Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count was the first fully online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real-time.

Now, more than 160,000 people of all ages and walks of life worldwide join the four-day count each February to create an annual snapshot of the distribution and abundance of birds.

It’s a simple project: For at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count, which is February 17-20 this year, simply tally the numbers and kinds of birds you see. The data can then be entered and viewed at the GBBC website. You can count from any location, anywhere in the world, and for as long as you wish.

Despite the moniker of “backyard” it is more than that. You could count birds in your yard, but you could also observe them at any woodlot, field, marsh or lake in Western New York. A project like this is nice because it gives some folks who are otherwise shut-ins in the winter months a little nudge to traipse outdoors, hiking, snowshoeing, or skiing to count birds.

I strongly encourage all birders – even those who count themselves as “beginners” – to explore the Niagara Frontier during the GBBC; you’ll be amazed at the diverse wildlife that still calls this area home even during the most brutal parts of winter.

Birding is one of the most popular hobbies in the US – almost 47 million people observed, photographed or fed birds last year. You were probably one of them. If you are looking to add to that experience and battle the winter doldrums, help out the folks at Feederwatch and the Backyard Bird Count  -- it’s an easy way to give to and help out the scientific community and, in the process, help our feathered friends.

From the 05 January 2017 All WNY News

Patriotism is not a crime

We’re almost twelve years into this column, and I’m pretty sure you know by now that I love this country.

This columnist consistently trumpets Americanism and tries to educate about threats posed to personal liberty and the health of our economy by our own policymakers and outside forces. It’s a love for country that I practice in my professional life, too, helping to manage a company that could easily make many of its products overseas but instead choses to employ a couple hundred people and pay taxes here on American soil. It’s also something I carry into my volunteerism, helping the Boy Scouts of America, one of the last bastions of youthful patriotism and civic engagement.

Many of my readers are America-loving souls, too. They practice their national pride in their own way: They might buy American-made products, they might become engaged in the civics of their community, or they may make the ultimate pledge of patriotism by serving our country.

Love of country is a wonderful feeling to have, and doing your best to make that nation prosper is the right way, the only way, to be a good citizen.

But, it was made apparent in this last election cycle that the national media, many policymakers and even your own neighbors find Americanism to be repulsive. Painting with a wide brush stroke, they identified anyone who followed or voted for Trump (which this guy didn’t by the way) and/or who pushes a pro-American agenda (which this guy does) as being close-minded, world-hating, nationalist pigs akin to Nazis.

Disaffected Democrats and blue-collar workers and a total of 63 million Americans jumped on the Trump bandwagon not because of Nazism but because of Trump’s wanton desire to restore jobs to small town America, bring back manufacturing, improve our infrastructure and not that of others, and, as the slogan went, “make America great again.” It was the first time in a long time that so many people focused on the prospects of a better, stronger America.

Somehow, agents of the Democratic Party’s political machine and the press abandoned that mindset, and decided that it was dangerous for anyone to want this great country to be the best it can be. Patriotism was treated like a crime.

If anything, it’s that outlook – that Americans should just settle for what comes, not take the lead and not aspire for greatness – that’s dangerous. It’s the same approach that encourages disastrous free trade agreements (that are anything but free trade); becoming parts of centralized governing bodies that rob nations and their people of their sovereignty (like the United Nations and pipe dreams like The European Union); being party to allegiances that gets us wrapped up in all sorts of wars while encouraging terrorism; and developing blasé brands of national pride and concern that at their weakest levels have led to the destruction of many a nation.

America would be far better off if we followed the Constitution, ditched trade agreements, invested in our own bridges and highways and broadband, and stepped away from mysterious dalliances with the UN and other global entities. By doing that we make our home a better place – we invest in our own people and public works which excites our economy, improving the quality of life for our people, and, believe it or not, those of the rest of the world.

I don’t know if Trump will do any of that or back up his talk, but he or what his movement was believed to be inspired a good many people who, as a result of the election, care for America and its/their prospects and now know they are empowered to make a difference.

Promoting truth, justice and the American Way – which is the best way – is no crime. It’s the best thing for this country and this planet. Our Founding Fathers created the greatest framework for social and economic success this world has ever seen. Let’s capitalize on that. Wave the flag. Keep America first in your heart, mind and practices.

America might have its warts -- no one or no thing is perfect -- but this country is pretty darn close.   

From the 02 January 2017 Greater Niagara Newspapers