Strawberry Island is an uninhabited island in the Niagara River located in Erie County, New York, southeast of Grand Island. The island is owned by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and is managed as a fish and wildlife preserve.

Location and description

Strawberry Island is located southeast of Grand Island, and is the dividing point for the east and west branches of the Niagara River. The horseshoe-shaped island includes a lagoon and emergent vegetation on its north side and stands of

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

trees on its southern edge. The island is owned by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and is officially designated as Strawberry Island State Park, which is undeveloped. The island is managed as a fish and wildlife preserve in conjunction with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. It is part of a small

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...

along with Frog Island, Motor Island and Little Beaver Island, all small islands located slightly downstream of Strawberry Island.

History

Cultural history

The name "Strawberry Island" is present in records as early as 1750, although the origin of the name is not clear. The island was used by British forces during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

as a staging area for a siege of Buffalo in 1814, and was purchased from the

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

in 1815. A two-story hotel, including an grove of trees and a canal, was built upon the island in 1882, however it soon faded and was dismantled by the end of the century as tourists were drawn to newer resorts on nearby Grand Island. The island passed through a succession of private owners during the following years, including several gravel mining corporations. Mining and dredging took place on and near the island during several periods between 1912 and 1950, greatly reducing the island's size and contributing to its horseshoe shape. The island was sold to the

Town of Tonawanda Tonawanda (formally the Town of Tonawanda) is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 72,636. The town is at the north border of the county and is the northern inner ring suburb of B ...

in 1953, who used it to aid nearby construction projects. It was transferred to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in 1989.

Geologic and natural history

Strawberry Island was likely formed by the deposition of glacial sediments around a small shale outcrop during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

. The size of Strawberry Island has varied greatly over time, and it is today a fraction of its former size. When first mapped in the early nineteenth century, the island was estimated to cover approximately and consisted primarily of marshland. The island's size increased to due to soil and rock deposits from the excavation of the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...

in 1819, and further grew in 1908 with the addition of material generated from the construction of a canal lock in Black Rock. The island was estimated to be in 1912, but was reduced to just by 1948 due to unregulated gravel mining operations during the early and mid 1900s. The island was further diminished to by 1950 as dredging was concentrated on the island's center, expanding its lagoon. The island continued to lose area due to erosion from high water levels and winter storms during the latter half of the 20th century. It was estimated to be in 1987, and had further decreased to by 2013. Plans to stabilize and rehabilitate Strawberry Island, in addition to several nearby islands, were developed in 2007 as part of a coordinated habitat enhancement project funded by the

New York Power Authority The New York Power Authority (NYPA), officially the Power Authority of the State of New York, is a New York State public-benefit corporation. It is the largest state public power utility in the United States. NYPA provides some of the lowest-co ...

. Work was completed on Frog Island, a previously submerged island located just downstream of Strawberry Island, in 2014. Ecosystem restoration work was completed on Motor Island and Little Beaver Island during the same time period. A $3.2 million contract was awarded to commence work on wetland rehabilitation and erosion control on Strawberry Island in March 2015.

Wildlife habitat

Strawberry Island bounds one edge of a area of shallow river known as the "Strawberry Island – Motor Island Shallows", recognized as the Niagara River's largest riverine

littoral zone The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal a ...

, a valuable type of fish and wildlife habitat that is regionally rare. The shallows were found to be one of two major spawning areas for

muskellunge The muskellunge ''(Esox masquinongy)'', often shortened to muskie, musky or lunge is a species of large freshwater predatory fish native to North America. It is the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae. Origin of name The name "muskell ...

in the Niagara River in the 1970s, as well as being productive habitat for other

game fish Game fish, sport fish or quarry refer to popular fish pursued by recreational anglers, and can be freshwater or saltwater fish. Game fish can be eaten after being caught, or released after capture. Some game fish are also targeted commercial ...

species. The area is also recognized as an important overwintering area for

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...

. After several unsuccessful attempts, a pair of bald eagles was observed to successfully establish a nest on Strawberry Island in 2013, part of a recent resurgence in the bald eagle populations within the region. To encourage and protect nesting eagles, since 2016 portions of the island have been designated as off-limits during nesting season, and motorized boating has been restricted near the island.

References