The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today released the draft Smokes Creek Habitat Opportunity Assessment Report for public comment. The report identifies and evaluates habitat restoration opportunities and flood mitigation alternatives to improve natural stream hydrology and habitat connectivity along the entire Smokes Creek corridor and an adjacent stretch of Lake Erie shoreline.

Smokes Creek stretches 15 miles from Orchard Park until it reaches Lake Erie. The creek consists of two tributaries, the main branch of Smokes Creek and South Branch Smokes Creek, that converge in the city of Lackawanna.

The draft report is available on DEC’s website and proposes approaches to mitigating identified environmental stressors at multiple levels. In addition to the specifically recommended projects, the report includes overall restoration goals and strategies for the entire study area and identifies general actions to improve habitat within sub-units of the creek corridor. In recommending the specific habitat improvement projects, a philosophy of addressing root causes of problems rather than addressing only the symptoms was used. The targeted project area included areas adjacent to and within the Smokes Creek mouth and main stem, including the main and south branches of the creek to its headwaters and the Lake Erie shoreline between Woodlawn Beach State Park and the Buffalo Outer Harbor.

Public comments on the draft report will be accepted until June 24, 2024, and can be submitted to stephany.tatarevich@dec.ny.gov. To introduce the draft report and invite public feedback, DEC will also host a virtual public meeting at 6 p.m. on June 13. To attend the virtual meeting, participants need to register for the meeting via WebEx and follow the prompts. 

The final report will be available in July and posted on DEC's website. DEC will announce and host a second virtual public meeting later this summer to discuss the final report. 

This project was funded by the State Environmental Protection Fund under the Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Act. This planning effort supports habitat restoration, flood resilience, and community revitalization priorities identified in New York’s Great Lakes Action Agenda.