Tifft Nature Preserve is a 264-acre nature refuge dedicated to conservation and environmental education. The Preserve was created in 1972 from land purchased by the City of Buffalo for a landfill site. Concerned citizens recognized the ecological importance of the site and convinced the city legislators to plan for the area's preservation. The completed landfill incorporated many safety measures, allowing the land to have a new purpose, a nature preserve which opened in 1976.In 1982, Tifft Farm Nature Preserve became a department of the Buffalo Museum of Science. Its name was later changed to Tifft Nature Preserve, to better reflect its purpose as a preserve rather than a farm. Today, Tifft Nature Preserve maintains a natural setting and has become the urban sanctuary many people envisioned over twenty years ago.