fix buffalo today, archive

May 3, 2005

Buffalo owns 650 acres of prime forest near Gowanda. In 1912, Mayor J.N. Adam donated this site for the Perrysburg TB Sanitarium. New York State took it over, but Buffalo retains reversionary rights. The State Dormitory Authority is attempting to sell the site to a logger, cheap.

The Village of Perrysburg uses this sanctuary as a park. There is a deer herd, hiking, skiing, bird watching and a snowmobile trail. The forest supplies its drinking water. The forest, as timber, is worth $1.5 million. As recreation, habitat and watershed, its value is inestimable. The state wants Buffalo to sacrifice the land for about $339,000.

In Orange County, hunters and hikers are suing the state for selling 1,200 acres of Hudson Valley. New York's right hand spends a fortune on Pataki's Open Space program, while its left discards magnificent lands at closed state facilities. Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo of Binghamton addresses this statewide problem in Assembly bill 7083.

Under Councilman David Franczyk's leadership, Buffalo has ordered a revaluation, a SEQR review and offered Perrysburg to the State Open Space Committee.

A perfect outcome would be for the state to buy the site from cash-starved Buffalo with Open Space money. Then, instead of falling to the ax, it would live on as a park.

Laurence T. Beahan, M.D.

Member, Adirondack Mountain Club, Sierra Club

Snyder

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