2 The Outdoors: The future of Times Beach
The sensitive sanctuary has taken a beating over the last few years from repeated storms.
· archived 5/18/2026, 12:37:45 AMscreenshotcached html 2 The Outdoors: A look at the future of Times Beach | wgrz.com × Close Ad Skip Navigation Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on SMS Share on Email Navigation News Back Local Near Me Entertainment Health Money Nation World Politics 2 Investigates VERIFY Shows Features Latest News Stories Bills' fans raise more than $5M for Damar Hamlin's charity following his collapse during game Local high schools ensure robust cardiac safety protocols for athletes Weather Back Forecast Radar 10-Day/Hourly Closings & Delays Traffic Closings Registration Weather Cameras STEM Star Student of the Month Latest Weather Stories Storm Team 2 Weather Forecast Storm Team 2 weather forecast with Elyse Smith Sports VERIFY Channel 2 News Tonight00:0000:0000:00GO LIVEFacebookTwitterEmailEmbedSpeedNormalAutoplay Search Search: Search Right Now Buffalo, NY » 39° Buffalo, NY » Weather Closings Advertise With Us Investigative Post Recalls VOTE Most Buffalo What 2 Do Unknown Stories of WNY Future of the Bills Sign up for newsletter commUNITY Closings Instagram Mental Health TikTok Selfless Among Us Breaking News Read More » More (-1) » Outdoors 2 The Outdoors: The future of Times Beach The sensitive sanctuary has taken a beating over the last few years from repeated storms. The future of Times Beach00:0000:0000:00GO LIVEFacebookTwitterEmailEmbedSpeedNormalAutoplay More Videos Next up in 5 Bills Mafia rallies together for Damar Hamlin Buffalo Common Council grills DPW Commissioner over storm response Niagara Falls lit up for Buffalo Bills' safety Local high schools ensure cardiac safety Storm Team 2 weather forecast with Elyse Smith Author: Terry Belke Published: 2:37 PM EST November 27, 2022 Updated: 11:26 PM EST November 27, 2022 BUFFALO, N.Y. — Mother Nature can be a hard task mistress, even to her own. Times Beach Nature Preserve on the Outer Harbor has been mostly closed since 2019. A storm in October of that year spawned a seiche that heavily damaged the waterfront sanctuary. Jay Burney of Friends of Times Beach Nature Preserve has been working to preserve Times Beach for decades. "A seiche is like a tsunami, except it's not caused by an earthquake, it's caused by the wind. So when this seiche hit this end of the lake, all of our shorelines in Buffalo and Erie County, Niagara County, were impacted. We had water at Times Beach and throughout the Buffalo Harbor which was 12 feet or higher." Credit: Jay Burney The serious damage began with a 2019 seiche. Times Beach has not had a chance to recover, as it's been battered by a number of storms since, each inflicting more damage. Boardwalks and trails were destroyed. Burney explains that a protective break wall was breached, making it impossible to control flooding. "That break wall is broken and that has allowed a lot of the flooding. We don't want to rebuild those boardwalks until we've got that under control." Mart MacSwan the Chief Environmental Compliance Specialist for Erie County said, "All those external forces at a higher intensity than it does just chip away at it over time, and it's a section of the break wall that was constructed somewhat differently from another section of it that has remained intact." Credit: Jay Burney Subsequent storms have increased the damage. The 55-acre site was once an important barrier on the lake, helping to mitigate such disasters. Burney says that, ironically, development over the years has diminished its ability to protect the inland from such storms. "All that shoreline, millions of acres of marsh and sand dunes vanish. The shoreline has become hardened. We've developed down here. So now all the buildings and infrastructure that you have here are very vulnerable to those storms." Credit: Jay Burney Efforts to restore Times Beach are underway. The preserve's recovery is aided by strong allies. Erie County, the City of Buffalo and the Friends of Times Beach Nature Preserve are all working together to restore Times Beach. "All the pieces of the puzzle are there," says MacSwan." But a big part of it is figuring out resiliency for the site." Best Soundbars Ottfeatured by Burney agrees. "We are fighting a battle to preserve resiliency on the Outer Harbor, and we have a few friends, but mostly we need the public to understand the importance of saving the environment." For more information on The Friends Of Times Beach Nature Preserve, click here. Related Articles 2 The Outdoors: Unionids are the kidneys of rivers 2 The Outdoors: Making a home for wildlife 2 the Outdoors: Sasquatch possibly in Chautauqua County? 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