Conservancy, Albany are Partners in Pine Bush Land Deal
Conservancy, Albany are Partners in Pine Bush Land Deal
The following is part of an article from the Times Union, Nov. 14,
91 by James Denn. We’re not sure about some of the details, but here
it is.
The Nature Conservancy, a national not-for-profit environmental
group, recently purchased 181 acres of environmentally sensitive
property in the Pine Bush for $1.99 million.
Albany is also a partner in the land deal, agree-ing to repay the
nature group more than $2.2 million over a three-year period for the
property. The city’s repay-ment plan in-cludes interest.
The Nov. 7 purchase from Nicholas V. Iarossi Jr. of Voorheesville was
one of the Nature Conservancy’s largest Pine Bush land acquisitions,
topping a controversial acquisition of 102 acres in July.
The Nature Conservancy now owns or controls more than 500 acres in
the Pine Bush. The Iarossi parcel is accessible by Willow Street in
Guilderland and lies within the boundaries of three municipalities:
Albany, Colonie and Guilderland.
Peg Olsen, executive director of the Nature Conservancy’s NY chapter,
said the Iarossi deal represents an important part of the group’s
plans for the Pine Bush. “It is adjacent to other properties we own,”
she said.
The Nature Conservancy has its sights set on only two more parcels in
the Pine Bush: 70 acres owned by Shirley Fusco and 21 acres owned by
the Hellman Foundation. Negotiations to acquire these properties are
continuing, said Olsen.
The Daily Gazette’s excellent lead editorial for Nov. 27 91 was
titled Doing Better for the Pine Bush. It begins with:
“The Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission has proposed a sound
management plan for that environmentally sensitive area. If its
recommenda-tions are followed, and if additional land is acquired, a
unique eco-system can be saved.” It ends with: “Most of the Pine Bush
has already been lost, but much has also been done to save what is
left. Purchase of a few hundred more acres, and implementation of the
commission’s management plan, will ensure that this precious resource
is there for us and our children to enjoy.”
It’s absolutely wonderful to read that the Gazette acknowledges that
the Pine Bush is a “unique ecosystem” and should be saved. This is a
refreshing change from the anti-conservationist attitude of the
Republican Times Union. We wish, however, that the role of SPB had
been acknowledged in their editorial. After all, without the lawsuits
we’ve been filing for the past 14 years, there would be no Pine Bush
left today for the commission to manage.
