Five-Star Restoration Program Descriptions
Erie County, NY's Innovative Partnership to Teach Environmental Stewardship
Through the JTPA Summer Youth Employment Program
EPA Region 2
To restore natural areas along urban rivers, it is essential to have
people living nearby feel a sense of ownership over public spaces and
treat them as their backyard. The Erie County Department of Environment
and Planning (ECDEP) recognized the need to foster a bridge to these communities,
especially young people, to protect three county 'pocket' parks along
the Buffalo River and Cazenovia Creek. At these sites, the county had
made a significant investment in restoring degraded fish and wildlife
habitat.
The ECDEP launched the Buffalo River Wetlands and Watershed Stewardship
Program to encourage environmental stewardship while providing a rich
educational experience. With the support of the National Association of
Counties, ECDEP brought together the Buffalo and Erie County Private Industry
Council and the Town of West Seneca Youth Bureau and AmeriCorps and linked
the agencies' separate and distinct missions into a unified partnership
having common goals for:
- environmental protection and enhancement;
- youth employment, job training and education;
- individual qualities and leadership development; and,
- community outreach.
The Erie County Stewardship Program demonstrated how effective partnerships
help achieve local sustainable community initiatives.
During the summer of 1997, nine youths from the Job Training Partnership
Act (JTPA) Summer Youth Employment and Training Program participated in
the Erie County Stewardship Program. The youths were supervised by ECDEP
staff and Americorps members. The Buffalo River and Cazenovia Creek watershed
was both their classroom and their subject during their employment. By
summer's end, the youths knew the watershed and its habitats with an intimacy
they may never have expected. They now have a better awareness of the
remarkable diversity of life in the environments they encounter and of
the adaptations and interdependence of the creatures, plants, and geological
features within those environments. The young people reported that they
carried away with them a strong sense of their responsibility for the
stewardship of the land.
The Partners
The success of the Erie County Stewardship Program resulted from a strong
partnership of four entities. These entities and their objectives are
described below:
Erie County Department of Environment and Planning (ECDEP)
The ECDEP provides direct technical services and staff assistance to county
government, local governments, residents and businesses for planning and
implementation of infrastructure, and community and economic development.
One of the department's objectives is to restore and enhance fish and
wildlife habitat at select sites on the Buffalo River, while providing
public access to these areas.
The ECDEP developed the Erie County Stewardship Program to accomplish
several objectives:
- engage youths in planning and construction of three fish and wildlife
habitat restoration projects;
- develop and implement a community-based environmental watch-program
for the wetlands and habitat sites under construction;
- initiate citizen participation in water quality monitoring throughout
the watershed; and
- build effective interagency partnerships with local agencies and organizations
having diverse, yet complimentary, goals and objectives.
Buffalo and Erie County Private Industry Council (BEC-PIC)
The BEC-PIC is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to job training
and employment for residents in need of skills for successful employment.
It is in part funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Labor through
the JTPA. Among the JTPA programs the BEC-PIC administers is the Summer
Youth Employment and Training Program (SYETP). The SYETP provides paid
employment and education to low-income or at-risk youth during the summer.
It incorporates basic employment skills, integrated learning experiences,
and work maturity skills to provide a strong connection between summer
learning and school year progress.
Town of West Senaca Youth Bureau (WSYB) and Americorps
The Town of West Senaca Youth Bureau is dedicated to the promotion of
service by and for the youth of West Senaca. One of the WSYB programs,
the West Senaca Service Action Corps, is an AmeriCorps program. Objectives
of the WSYB include: providing leadership opportunities for young adults
who are participants in AmeriCorps; sponsoring a "youth corps;" and protecting
and maintaining the environment.
The National Association of Counties (NACo)
Two NACo service programs provided funding for the Erie County Stewardship
Program. NACo's Employment and Training Program, funded by the U.S. Department
of Labor, and NACo's Wetlands Protection and Coastal Watershed Management
Projects, funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, provided
Erie County with support for transportation and report writing costs.
The Results
The Stewardship Program successfully demonstrated an innovative and cost-effective
approach toward community job training, environmental awareness, and site
maintenance. By working together toward common ends, the partners were
able to bridge barriers and accomplish more than any one agency working
alone would have done. Whether urban metropolis or rural county, this
approach can easily be adapted to suit the particular needs of a community.
All that is needed are people who are receptive, motivated, and committed
to taking part.
Among the youths' accomplishments were the:
- successful maintenance and protection of restored fish and wildlife
habitats at three public parks along the Buffalo River;
- promotion of the newly restored park areas through letters written
to local elected officials and presentations to children at community
centers;
- development and implementation of a "Community Affirmation Celebration"
to encourage residents to help maintain and protect the parks from vandalism
completion of a wetlands vegetation survey;
- continuance of a water quality survey at previously identified water
monitoring stations;
- successful preservation and enhancement of riparian vegetation through
shoreline and streambank planting to trap sediment and reduce erosion
within the Buffalo River watershed; and,
- attainment of employability skills (including decision-making, problem
solving, punctuality, ability to express themselves verbally and in
writing, responsibility, trust and patience), as well as the realization
of their abilities, and the improved self-confidence to apply those
abilities when needed.
The success of the program has inspired the ECDEP to aim for new opportunities
to expand the program. Some of the many ideas currently being considered
by the ECDEP are:
- extending ongoing water quality monitoring to include school children
and neighborhood groups,
- capitalizing on the voluntary participation of local environmental
consulting firms and landscaping businesses in wetlands restoration
and encouraging broader support and participation by the private sector,
and
- working with the Erie County Welfare-to-Work program to continue water
quality monitoring and site maintenance during the school year and broaden
community participation.
Erie County's Stewardship Program strengthened the working relationship
among the partners involved and inspired others to want to join in and
help. This widespread support for collaborative efforts will ensure that
a strong stewardship initiative for the protection and restoration of
the Buffalo River and Cazenovia Creek watershed will continue in the future.
Contact Information:
John Hood
Erie County Department of Environment and Planning
95 Franklin Street, Room 1077
Buffalo, NY 14202
Phone: (716) 858-6430
Fax: (716) 858-7713
Email: hoodj@cdbg.co.erie.ny.us
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