waterway · Erie County
Strawberry Island Restoration
Tonawanda / Niagara River
Historic gravel mining and persistent erosion greatly reduced and reshaped Strawberry Island. Successive shoreline stabilization and wetland projects protected the surviving island and rebuilt riverine marsh habitat within the Niagara River Area of Concern.
The documented story
What happened here?
Strawberry Island once occupied a much larger footprint in the upper Niagara River. Historic sand and gravel removal altered its form, and later ice, waves, and boat wakes accelerated erosion of the remaining shoreline.
Beginning in the 1990s, state agencies undertook several phases of breach repair, shoreline protection, revegetation, and marsh creation. The work became part of the larger effort to restore habitat impairments in the Niagara River Area of Concern.
Connected history — an island was mined from 100 acres to eight
Strawberry Island survived extraction, erosion, and repeated efforts to rebuild its edges
100 → 8 acresdocumented change from the 1815 survey to approximately 1990
Before 1912
A large island anchored one of the river's richest shallow-water systems
Strawberry, Motor, and Frog islands were surrounded by marsh, sandbars, and dense aquatic vegetation used by fish, waterfowl, wading birds, and other wildlife. Strawberry Island became one of the Niagara River's principal muskellunge spawning areas.
1912-1990
Commercial gravel removal nearly erased the landform
After sale to a gravel company, mining removed island material and altered the nearby shoals. Strawberry shrank from the approximately 100 acres recorded in 1815 to about eight acres by 1990; Frog Island disappeared, leaving submerged substrate between Strawberry and Motor.
1990s-present
Restoration rebuilt protection and habitat rather than the original island
Projects repaired breaches, stabilized shoreline, added marsh and aquatic planting areas, reworked lagoon contours, and built protective berms. Later repairs responded to continuing ice, wake, wave, and high-water erosion, showing that the reconstructed habitat requires maintenance.
Chronology
Timeline
- Historic extraction era
Sand and gravel mining reduced and reshaped Strawberry Island.
- 1993–1997
After a major breach, agencies repaired the island, stabilized approximately 1,400 feet of shoreline, and planted trees and shrubs.
- 2002
A third restoration phase created approximately three acres of riverine marsh and installed protective breakwall.
- 2018
A wetland-restoration project added roughly seven acres of habitat and continued shoreline protection.
- 2022
DEC reviewed repairs to eroded berms and planting areas within the habitat-improvement project.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Historic aggregate mining removed island material and changed the surrounding shallow-water environment.
- Ice, waves, wakes, and high water caused breaches, shoreline retreat, and loss of wetland habitat.
- The island lies within a river historically impaired by industrial and municipal pollution, but the restoration sources principally document physical habitat loss rather than a discrete hazardous-waste source on the island.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- Stone protection repaired breaches and stabilized vulnerable shoreline.
- Breakwalls and low-profile berms reduced wave energy and sheltered new marsh areas.
- Native wetland, tree, and shrub planting rebuilt fish and wildlife habitat.
- Periodic maintenance replaces eroded material and protects the long-term restoration investment.
Then and now
The site today
Strawberry Island remains an undeveloped conservation and habitat-restoration site. Its changing footprint is a visible record of extraction, erosion, and active ecological repair in the upper Niagara River.