2025 Pasture and Orchard Walks
FREE
pasture walks and orchard walks in August and October. The walks showcase
our grant projects that include micro-irrigation for orchards, a heavy use
feeding area, and fencing. The micro-irrigation walk is scheduled for August
6th. Pasture walks are planned for August 26th and October 23rd. Join
us for one or all of the walks to learn more about grazing options and new
technology. The links below bring you to fliers describing each walk.
All Walks Info Sheet
Micro-irrigation Walk
Info.
Pasture Walks Info.
Free Soil Survey Books
Want a FREE
resource that will help you understand the soils of your property? Our
office has a collection of Soil Survey of Niagara County books. These books
can help inform better landmanagement decisions by learning your soils
characteristics, estimated engineering properties and even potential crop
yeilds. Call or stop into our office today for a free copy.
Want to take the
guess work out of what soils to look up on your property? Since the soil
survey maps aren't very descriptive, we'll even print you a soils map of
your property to remove the guess work.
Two Pasture Walks Planned for September 2022
Two pasture
walks are planned for this fall. September 8th is the first pasture walk at
Al-Noor Farms. This will be an opportunity for sharing information for
goats/grazing.
Download Here
a poster about the event.
September 30th
is the first pasture walk at Binksberry Hollow. After providing butchery
services for years, Binksberry Hollow now has pature for chickens, pigs, and
beef cattle.
Download Here
a poster about the event.
Build your own Rain Barrels
As a reminder,
Newfane High School developed a guide to building your own rain barrel!
Here is a link to their
guide.
Japanese Knotweed
Thank you to all
of our great customers, homeowners and other interested parties for helping
us trackdown knotweed in the county. Our field season is done for the year,
but it is a program we will bring back next year thanks to you.
Agricultural Assessment Season is upon us.
Please submit
your Agricultural Assessments early. Many towns are requiring residents to
renew their assessments. We currently have a longer than normal wait time to
receive the soils worksheets back.
Updates are
coming
Early this year we
lost the software to update the website due to computer upgrades. Now we are
back up and running... We will be sure to update the calendar and newsletters as
soon as we can.
"Come one,
come all..."
The 2018 Tree and
Shrub order form is posted on this website first. We will start accepting orders
on January 1, 2018. We usually sell out of some items fast, so don't wait until
the deadline.
Fish Orders Due Soon
Pond stocking order
forms are due August 25, 2017, while Grass Carp order forms are due September 1st.
All Grass Carp order forms require us to get all three copies of your DEC Grass
Carp Permit with your order.
A BIG Thank You!
Thank you to all of
the presenters and teachers/schools that participated in the 2017 Environmental Field
Days. Despite the rain, everyone had a great time at this educational event. See
everyone next year!
Environmental Field Days
CALLING ALL
TEACHERS! If you are interested in participating in our Field Days on June 6,
2017,
(rain date June 7th), contact us immediately. This event for 5th and 6th grade
students, has classes rotate through Royalton Ravine park to learn about topics
ranging from water quality, forestry, conservation law and outdoor hobbies.
Tree Order Pickup
If you ordered trees
from our 2017 Tree and Shrub Program please pick them up on Friday, April 21st
or Saturday, April 22nd. If you have any questions feel free to contact us by
phone at 716-434-4949 Ext. 4.
Come order your trees
Every year the district comes out with an annual tree sale. Be sure to download
an order form from our website or get more information from our
Tree and Shrub tab.
It's that time of year again...
If
you own land that is being used for agriculture make sure to talk to your town
assessor about getting an agricultural assessment completed. If qualified, that
could mean saving money on your property taxes. Call our office today for more
information. Our office completes the Soil Group Worksheets that your town
assessor uses in the agricultural tax break. More details on our
Programs page.
Congratulations to the 2016 Regional Envirothon Winners!
The Niagara County winning team included students from the Niagara Career and
Technical Center, Conservation program in Sanborn, NY.
If
your school is interested in participating in the Envirothon in 2017, please
contact Darcy at (716) 434-4949.
Be on the lookout for Japanese Knotweed!
Niagara County Soil and Water Conservation District is looking to apply for
funding to control and eradicate a highly invasive plant within the Eighteenmile
Creek Watershed. Japanese knotweed resembles bamboo, and can reach 10-15 feet
tall. It is adapted to a wide variety of soil types and pH levels, and can be
found growing along riverbanks, wetlands, disturbed areas, roadsides, woodlands
and grasslands. If you suspect you have Japanese knotweed on your property,
please call our office at 716-434-4949 Ext. 4.
Eighteenmile Creek Progress Updates
Since being listed under the National Priorities List (NPL) in March of 2012
progress has been slowly picking up speed, and 2014 has been a year of
advancement towards the cleanup of Eighteenmile Creek. This past summer, EPA
contractors completed the demolition of the old Liberty Building on 89 Mill
Street. With the equipment and contractors already in place, EPA began the
demolition of the former Flintkote building. The Flintkote building and its
surrounding property are likely the source of the major contamination to
Eighteenmile Creek. Demolition will continue and be finished in the spring,
where the next steps will be to sample the soil beneath the basement of the once
inaccessible building. Actual cleanup and remediation of the contaminated soils
on the site will follow when all different options are thoroughly investigated.
The changing of the seasons has also brought progress to another part of
Eighteenmile Creek, Olcott Harbor in the Town of Newfane. The town has embarked
on a harbor dredging project to increase the navigability of the western part of
the harbor, near West Main Street. The town was hoping to �piggyback� on to the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) dredging project between the navigational
channels, but this scope of work was too small for the contractor selected.
Without using the USACE contractor, the Town of Newfane has hired Wendel
Companies to assist them with their project. In preparation for the dredging,
the town has dug a large pit near East Lake Road and West Washington Street. The
dredged soil will be placed in this pit, allowing the water to slowly drain over
winter before being covered back up with clean fill from the site.
Niagara County Soil and Water Conservation District at the 2014 Niagara County
Fair
LAKE
LEVEL DECISION DRAWS IRE
The International Joint Commission announced this week Plan 2014 is its
preferred option for regulating water levels and slows of lake Ontario and the
St. Lawrence River. And local leaders don't like it. The plan controls the water
level in Lake Ontario by adjusting the flow of water through a dam in the St.
Lawrence River, creating higher and lower water levels than before.
LEARN MORE
CHANGING
FACES IN THE DISTRICT- 2014
Mike Clifford-
Mike joined the staff as our Natural Resource Technician this past September.
Mike was the USDA-NRCS District Conservationist in Walton, NY. He recently
relocated to WNY where he continued to work part time on conservation efforts as
a subcontractor to the NRCS and an Earth Team Volunteer. Mike brings years of
knowledge and experience to the office and he will be busy using his talents on
AEM, barnyard projects, wildlife habitat, and soil health. He enjoys hunting,
fishing, and other outdoor sports.
EPA REJECTS BAN ON LEAD SINKER AND AMMO
A
call for a ban on lead fishing tackle and ammunition was recently rejected by
the Environmental Protection Agency, which said there was no proof that it would
protect the environment.
Environmental groups petitioned the EPA in August to prohibit �the manufacture,
processing, and distribution� of lead in bullets and fishing gear. In response
to the American Bird Conservancy, EPA Assistant Administrator, Stephen Owens,
cited steps already undertaken to curb lead use: limits on federal land, state
regulation, education efforts and the increasing availability of non-lead
alternatives.
LEARN MORE
SCALING BACK OF ASIAN CARP STUDY
DRAWS FIRE
More than three years after Congress directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
to explore ways to separate the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins in
order to "prevent the spread" of nuisance species like Asian carp between the
two grand water systems, the Army Corps is now embarking on what it says likely
will be a four year study.
LEARN MORE |
Summer '25- Niagara SWCD Newsletter 
Winter '15- Niagara Nature News
