Reprinted From The Altamont Enterprise on Friday, January 6, 2023

ALBANY COUNTY — The Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission announced on Friday that it has acquired 15.1 more acres of land in Colonie to add to the 3,400-acre preserve.

The property was purchased from a willing seller late in 2022, the release said, noting Colonie dedicated 41 acres to the preserve last February, creating an area of nearly 120 connected acres of protected land in western Colonie.

“The goal is to fill in these pieces and connect them for continuity — lands adjacent to one another provide for species movement, public recreation, and buffer from nearby development,” said Commission Executive Director Christopher Hawver in a statement, making the announcement.

The commission was created in 1988 and the preserve spans three municipalities: the city of Albany and the towns of Colonie and Guilderland.

“The Commission still needs to protect an additional 2,000 acres in order to assure the viability of the ecosystem,” said Hawver in his post, noting the goal is to protect 5,380 acres.

“Protecting the land, however, is just the start of making the barrens healthy again,” Hawver says. “The specialized plants and animals there are fire-dependent, so the Commission uses prescribed fire as well as a variety of other tools to conserve this distinct local treasure ….

“There are a number of additional properties we’d like to see added and protected from willing landowners. With our state and local partners, we hope to continue the momentum.”

The Commission encourages anyone who has land within the Albany Pine Bush Preserve study area, and is interested in selling, to contact Christopher Hawver atchawver@albanypinebush.org . To view the map of lands recommended for protection and addition to the preserve, visit https://albanypinebush.org/our-work-land-protection , and click on the link to the Vision Map.