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While you explore Tifft Nature Preserve, you may wonder how it could possibly be built on a former landfill. The preserve is located on the edge of Buffalo Harbor in western New York, and the verdant surroundings belie its unflattering history. In the warmer months, as you explore these 264 wooded acres on foot, you’ll hear birdsong in the canopy and spot squirrels in the grass.
Oh, you will see signs of a Rust Belt past. The haunting remains of the Cargill Grain Elevator stand on the edge of the park, and highway traffic flashes past on Route 5. Cargo ships have long passed through here, and freight trains still rumble over a nearby convergence of railroad tracks. For decades, the property became a “dumpsite” for slag, fly ash, and other industrial waste. This was a place of smokestacks and heavy machinery, dangerous for wildlife and repellent to visitors…