Friday, March 22, 7:30 p.m. A Sense of Wonder one-woman play about the life and work of Rachel Carson “A Sense of Wonder,”is a one-woman play about the life and work of Rachel Carson, will be performed at RPI’s Chapel and Cultural Center (2125 Burdett Avenue, Troy). Rachel Carson was a marine biologist and zoologist whose book Silent Spring (1962) alerted the world to the dangers of chemical pesticides. She has been called “the patron saint of the environmental movement.”…
On Wednesday, April 20, 2022, Tina Lieberman and Bill Reinhardt of the Capital District Community Energy delivered the following presentation, via Zoom to the Save the Pine Bush Virtual Meeting. Links and accessible text are available below. Down To Earth: Practical Steps You Can Take to Reduce Carbon Emissions & Save Our Climate Tina Lieberman, Vice Chair, Albany Sustainability Advisory Committee Bill Reinhardt, Albany County Legislator, Co-Chair Solarize Albany Founding Chairs, Capital District Community Energy, Inc. Notes: One main takeaway…
It is with great sadness that we observe the passing of our dear friend, Louise Burch. Louise was a stalwart volunteer for Save the Pine Bush for decades. She folded newsletters and drove Rezsin and the newsletters to the post office. But, most important of all, she selflessly washed the dishes at the dinners, so that others could enjoy the food and the listen to the speakers. She did those behind the scenes important necessary tasks that needed to be…
by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: Albany resident and Secretary of the NYS Green Party Peter Lavenia was the featured speaker at the August 14 SPB dinner. He spoke about Renewable Energy: Why the Old Country is New Again and We’re Not. What Peter did was compare the political climates in Europe and the United States to explain why Europe is moving farther and faster ahead of the US in limiting greenhouse gas emissions and developing safe, renewable energy. Peter, who thinks of…
Letters to Save the Pine Bush Letters to Save the Pine Bush Here is a sampling of letters written to Save the Pine Bush and some responses written by Lynne Jackson: From: rngeorge@gw.dec.state.ny.us (Richard Georgeson) To: pinebush@aol.com To Lynne Jackson: Lynne – In your history of Save the Pine Bush section of your web page, you incorrectly state, “In September of 1978, there were no environmental laws in effect in New York State.” However, in 1978 there…
by Lynne Jackson ALBANY: Save the Pine Bush celebrated its 25th birthday at the February vegetarian lasagna dinner at the First Presbyterian Church. The dinner began by members telling stories about the early years. Save the Pine Bush was born in the middle of a snow storm on February 6, 1978. It snowed that day. It snowed so much that the offices of the New York State government closed down and stayed closed the next day. This is the only…
The Pine Bush is located in the Capital District, between Albany and Schenectady. The boundaries are Fuller Road on the east, Route 5 (Central Avenue) on the North, Route 146 on the west, and Route 20 (Western Avenue) on the South. The Pine Bush is located in three municipalities-Albany, Guilderland and Colonie. The Pine Bush originally encompassed 58,000 acres extending from downtown Albany to Rotterdam. Now, there are only 5,800 acres remaining. Key Black Line: The Pine Bush Commission’s study…
Save the Pine Bush has a traveling exhibit. We bring it to fairs, schools, and especially every year to the Albany Tulipfest, held on Saturaday and Sunday of Mother’s Day weekend in May. If you don’t have a chance to visit our exhibit in person, we have put the pictures and captions in our exhibit on the web for your enjoyment. The photographs linked to this page are spectacular, and, are quite large (between 60K and 140K). Click on the…
A pair of right wing propagandists are using misinformation about the Pine Bush and the Karner Blue Butterfly to attack grass-roots preservation efforts across America, and are calling for overturning the Federal Endangered Species Act. Hailed as the new bible of radical anti-environmentalism, Noah’s Choice, The Future Of Endangered Species, is the product of rightist magazine editor Charles C. Mann and the notorious reactionary apologist Mark C. Plummer. This slippery tome carefully avoids mentioning Save the Pine Bush, although our…
Finally, after sixteen years of struggle and lawsuits, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for Pine Bush preservation. It is a very tiny light, but with your help, we may actually be able to reach it. Two things are occurring to create this light. One is the change in the political climate in Albany with the new mayor, Jerry Jennings (who has a history of supporting Pine Bush preservation), and new alderpersons. The other is the…
Save the Pine Bush uses the courts to force government agencies to follow environmental preservation laws. The City of Albany has been notorious for ignoring the State Environmental Quality Review Act. We have been very successful in our lawsuits to block improper approvals of construction projects in the Pine Bush. Save the Pine Bush’s Victories and Challenges Victories ·The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) purchased “Karner Meadows” (also known as Blueberry Hill) a 190 acre site near…
Albany Area Coalition for Light Rail Christian Gunther: Albany Area Coalition for Light Rail by Rezsin Adams "Albany Area" means Capital District (Albany, Schenectady, Troy.) The Capital District Transportation Com-mittee has prepared 5-year and 20-year plans–the 5-year plan is "New Visions" but is hardly visionary: light rail maybe in 20 years! Light rail is lighter than trolleys–2-3-4 cars in a line, usually overhead electric. Light rail would have the right-of-way and be non-polluting. It would be ideal for corridors,…
by Rezsin Adams ALBANY: According to Daniel Bogan, who spoke at the Save the Pine Bush dinner on November 10, the challenge today to wildlife is urban sprawl, which results in habitat loss and increased interaction between animals and humans. New York State was originally covered with forests but in the 1800’s the forests were cut down. Although regeneration has occurred, wolves and mountain lions were a threat to farming and were driven out of the state. Coyotes exploited this…
Home From Nowhere – Book Review Home From Nowhere Book Review by Lynne Jackson As a child growing up in the suburbs in the sixties, I really wanted sidewalks. I could not understand why there were no sidewalks. I envied the children who walked to school, and were even allowed to walk home at lunch. As I got older, I wished that I could take the bus, but as the bus stop was two miles from my house, along a…
by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: Jim Learning of the Grand River Labrador (GRL) and Annie Wilson of the New York Environmental Law and Justice Project (NYELJP), spoke at the April 20th Save the Pine Bush dinner bout existing and proposed hydroelectric projects in Quebec and Labrador, and their health, environmental, and financial impacts on Canadians. Jim, 78, a GRL board member and NunatuKavut (“Our Ancient Land”) councillor, was at the first stop of a ten-day tour of NY, New…
Crossgates Mall officials have dropped trespassing charges filed Monday against war protester Steve Downs, who wore a pro-peace T-shirt as he walked through the building that afternoon. The decision to negate the arrest came Wednesday evening, after more than 100 anti-war protesters descended upon the mall wearing shirts similar to Downs’. Tim Kelley, who works for the Pyramid Management Group that manages Crossgates and other malls throughout New York, said local managers had called the police. The decision to drop…
STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF ALBANY SUPREME COURT _________________________________________________ In the Matter of the Application of SAVE THE PINE BUSH, INC., REZSIN ADAMS, SANDRA CAMP, SHARON CASTERLIN, LUCY CLARK, LYNNE JACKSON, MARTHA MASTERS JOHN WOLCOTT, PETER VAN NOSTRAND and RUSSELL ZIEMBA, Case No. 1 Petitioners, Index No. for judgment pursuant to Article 78 of the CPLR RJI No. -against- …
There will be a party at Glenn Peter Jewelers on Wednesday January 25, 1544 Central Avenue to celebrate 10 years of Focus on Albany in addition to 90+ years of Rezsin Adam‘s life. Russell and I will be continuing the work we started before Covid to do a Documentary on Rezsin. So please come on January 25 between the hours of 5 30 and 7 30 pm and share both your Focus on Albany thoughts as well as your thoughts…
by John Wolcott Join us on a visit to a forgotten locale at the crossing of Old Karner Road with the AMTRAK tracks. This was bypassed when New Karner Road was built and then after a while the crossing was closed. This place was the location of the railroad stop half way between Albany and Schenectady established in 1831 when the first chartered passenger railroad in the Western Hemisphere was constructed here and for it’s first several years ran only…
September 3, 2019 Mr. Joseph LaCivita, Chair (by e-mail only)Director of Planning & Economic DevelopmentTown of Colonie Public Operations Center347 Old Niskayuna RoadLatham, NY 12110 RE: 2772 & 2792 Curry Rd. – Eden Renewables proposed Solar Farm Dear Director LaCivita, Thank you for requesting Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission (APBPC) review and comment on the above referenced sketch plan. The Albany Pine Bush supports the world’s best remaining example of an inland pitch pine-scrub oak barrens, 78 wildlife Species of…
By Laura Ferran, Founder of (SEBS) South End Butterfly Sanctuary, Albany NY ALBANY, NY: My mother Nadia Ferran, now age 89, remembers seeing hundreds of monarchs in the 1970’s in our family yard located in the South End of Albany. But when my young children and I came to live in Albany last year, we saw just ONE. This sighting was both exciting and frightening at the same time. We researched that monarchs are plummeting toward extinction. Numbering some 1.2…
Albany County Tax records show that 253 acres of Pine Bush were forever lost to development between 2010 and 2020. Acres in Study Area Acres Developed with a Building * % Acres Preserved ** % Acres Undeveloped or Used for Highways / Landfill *** % 13,005 5,723 44.0% 3,317 25.5% 3,965 30.5% * Acres developed does not include highways or other developments that do not contain buildings. ** Albany Pine Bush Commission managed lands *** County tax parcels that do…
The Village of Colonie is proposing to build a bridge in the Pine Bush over the Rapp Road/Lincoln Avenue railroad tracks. To allow for high-speed rail, all Òat gradeÓ crossings over railroad tracks are to be eliminated. The Village wants to eliminate the Rapp Road/Lincoln Avenue crossing by building a bridge. Save the Pine Bush knows a much better, much less expensive way: dead-end the road on either side of the railroad track. This would save about $3.5 million taxpayer…
by Stephen Williams, The Daily Gazette It’s one of the great animal kingdom migrations of the last century — the arrival and flourishing of the coyote in the eastern United States. The thick-furred canine and its high-pitched, ethereal yips and howls have become commonplace across the Capital Region over the last 30 years. Even suburbanites hear them. The eastern coyote is a bigger and more aggressive beast than its western counterpart — capable of taking down deer, rather than living…
PETER HENNER ATTORNEY AND COUNSELOR AT LAW P.O. BOX 326 CLARKSVILLE, NEW YORK 12041-0326 (518) 768-8232 Fax: (518) 768-8235 WEB SITE: peterhenner.com * CERTIFIED MAIL – RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED NOTICE OF INTENT TO SUE October 20, 2003 Mr. Mark Wagner, General Manager Pyramid Crossgates Company 120 Washington Avenue Albany, New York 12203 Dear Mr. Wagner: This letter is a formal Notice of Intent to file a citizen suit against Pyramid Crossgates Company (“Crossgates”) for violations of its State Pollution Discharge…
Open Space Public Hearing Wednesday, November 14. 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. — Workshop 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. — Public Hearing 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. — Public Hearing Public Assembly Room (129A & B) NYSDEC Central Office 625 Broadway Albany, NY ALBANY: A draft update of New York’s Open Space Conservation Plan for public review and commen in October. The Open Space Conservation Plan guides the State’s land acquisition and conservation program. When finalized, the plan will guide…
Membership Reminder Membership Reminder If you have not yet, please take a moment to send your membership or a donation to Save the Pine Bush, c/o 33 Central Avenue, Albany, New York 12210. Save the Pine Bush has many challenges coming upand we need your support now more than ever. Save the Pine Bush is an all-volunteer group; we have no paid staff, no office, no office equipment, no overhead. Without you, our supporters and members, Save the Pine Bush…
by John Wolcott ALBANY, NY: Here is a brief review of the Summary of the State Climate Action Council’s first public meeting on January 25, 2010 at the N.Y. State Museum was held pursuant to Gov. Paterson’s Executive Order 24. This was the first State Climate Action Council Public Outreach Meeting pursuant to Gov. Paterson's Executive Order 24 concerning measures to be taken to combat global warming. It's not too bad and compares well with California's unilateral actions and goes…
by Gregg Bell ALBANY: At the September Pine Bush dinner I gave a talk on biogas. For most Americans, biogas is a new idea. While biogas is actually an ancient technology, and while it is used extensively in developing countries and in Europe, there is still limited understanding of it here in the US. Given this situation, I structured my slide show half around low-tech biogas as used in developing nations to illustrate its benefits and its simplicity. The…
The Two Month Debate – Jennings and McEneny In A Death-Grip The Two Month Debate Jennings and McEneny In A Death-Grip By Daniel Van Riper Part 1: The Challenger State Assemblyman and Albany mayoral candidate Jack McEneny found himself being interviewed by the editors of the local media outlet for the Hearst Corporation, the Times Union. After the usual questions they asked him, "How do you get along with the business community?" " Well," said McEneny, "I have a number…
Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission Begins an Updated Plan for Pine Bush Preservation Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission Begins an Updated Plan for Pine Bush Preservation Colonie, NY &emdash; The Town of Colonie Community Center was the site of the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission’s Scoping Session Hearing on the Commission’s updated plan for Pine Bush Preservation. By law, the Commission must update its management plan every five years. The first step in the process is a “scoping session” where…
Show Down Over Roundup Show Down Over Roundup by John Wolcott Invading black locust trees are crowding out and over shadowing native Pine Bush plants including the blue lupine which is essential to the survival of the Karner Blue. Black locust trees, along with bulldozer happy developers, are one of the many threats to the survival of the Pine Bush. Black locusts, like developers, are extremely difficult to eradicate from the Pine Bush. Jerry Mueller has been cutting down one…
The Albany Pine Bush Management Commission The Albany Pine Bush Management Commission The Pine Bush Management Commission was created by the New York State Legislature to study and manage the Pine Bush in response to Save the Pine Bush’s lawsuits with the City of Albany over the landfill. Members of the Commission include the executives of the municipalities which include Pine Bush. The City of Albany, the Town of Colonie, the Town of Guilderland, the County of Albany, New York…
GUILDERLAND: Traditional Builders is proposing to construct 46 houses on a 106 acre lot in the western Pine Bush. 5This proposed site is on Lydius Street, adjacent to and west of the Dicaprio Farm (The Dicaprio Farm was acquired by the Town of Guilderland and made into soccer fields). The houses will be built on 24 acres of land as a “clustered” development; the remaining land is proposed to be preserved in some manner yet to be determined. Some people…
Protests Links to Photos of Protests Since January of 2000, I have felt that as a Citizen of the United States of America, that it is my duty and obligation to peacefully protest economic and war policies that I believe to be wrong. It is not that I like going to these protests, but I feel I must. At the protests, I take photographs. Here are links to the protests I have attended. On occassion, I attend other civic events…
Is There a ‘Y’ in Guilderland? Is There a ‘Y’ in Guilderland? Guest Article By Jamie and Mary Malcolm While Save the Pine Bush (SPB) is hard at work preserving any remaining Pine Bush in the Town of Guilderland, a series of projects including a new YMCA facility, are threatening to take protected land from the Preserve for the mere purposes of aligning driveways and easing traffic congestion. To propose further development in this area as a means to solve…
Draft Environmental Impact Statement DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT for Avila House Independent Senior Campus Lead Agency: City of Albany Planning Board 21 Lodge Street, Albany, New York 12207 Contact: Nicholas Dilello (518) 434-2532 ext. 28 Project Sponsor: First Colun1bia, LLC 26 Century Hill Drive Latham, New York 12110-2128, (518) 213-1000 Report Contributors: Hershberg and Hershberg 40 Colvin Avenue Albany, New York 12206 Responsible for "Pine Bush" Contact: Daniel Hershherg (518) 459-3096 Transportation Concepts, LLP 152…
by Tom Ellis RENSSELAER, NY: Five residents of Rensselaer and one each from East Greenbush, Menands, and Albany (me) met on September 18 with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) about the Dunn dump in Rensselaer. The DEC official included an assistant commissioner, chief counsel, chief of staff, and regional director. The meeting, held at DEC state headquarters in Albany, was a follow up to a similar meeting in mid-January. We made it clear that we continue to favor…
SCHENECTADY — The Woodlawn Preserve is getting closer and closer to full protection. After years of negotiations, the City Council finally adopted a management plan for the preserve last week. The plan will help keep the remnants of Pine Bush ecology that remain in the badly deteriorated preserve, and lays out the steps to restore the flora and fauna that are trademarks of the area. Even if the city had the money to begin full restoration immediately, it would still take years…
The Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission is mandated by law to revise its Management Plan every five years. The last revision to the Management Plan were the Implementation Guidelines, adopted by the Commission in 1996. The Commission will hold a public hearing on its Draft Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Albany Pine Bush Preserve on Thursday, October 18 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at the Town of Colonie Community Center, 1653 Central Avenue, Colonie. Originally, the…
At the March dinner, SPB welcomed Aaron Mair of the Arbor Hill Environmental Justice Corp., to speak about environmental justice. We learn something every day. We learn how dynamically we are all linked, our species, all human beings are linked to each other. We are also learning about unfortunate tradeoffs as well. Like sprawl. Sprawl is the unorganized growth, the unplanned growth of human settlements. Smart growth is organizing space. Accelerators of sprawl include new roads and widening old roads,…
The 1914 Pine Bush Preserve – What became of it? The 1914 Pine Bush Preserve What became of it? by John Wolcott In 1914, Albany almost benefitted immensely from the City Beautiful movement. This was part of the Progressive movement, then afoot around the country with its strong public spirit, open, honest better government and conservation bent. This, temporarily, influenced even traditionally conservative Albany. Albany in 1912, commissioned an architect, Arnold W. Brunner, and a landscape architect, Charles Downing Lay,…
16-09 Sept-Oct Newsletter Sept/Oct 16 No. 132 ⢠33 Central Ave., Albany, NY 12210 ⢠email pinebush@mac.com ⢠phone 518-462-0891 ⢠web http://www.savethepinebush.org ⢠Circ. 600 Vegetarian/Vegan Dinner Wednesday, September 21, 2016, 6:00 p.m. Climate Crisis and Practical Solutions Conor Bambrick Air & Energy Director, Environmental Advocates of NY will speak about NY Renews and practical solutions for transition to clean energy Mark Schaeffer who works with 350.org will speak about Overview of climate crisis and need for a political…
On Saturday, September 29, I participated in Save the Pine Bush’s first ever bicycle ride to the Pine Bush, led expertly by Steve Redler. The two of us rode on this glorious morning to the Pine Bush. It took us about an hour to leisurely pedal to the Discovery Center on back roads. I was astonished at the Discovery Center. It is absolutely beautiful. It is gorgeous. When you first walk in, you are greeted with beautiful paintings of the…
VILLAGE OF COLONIE: On May 3, Save the Pine Bush members met to discuss the next steps in fighting against the proposed landfill expansion in the Pine Bush and for a rational solid waste police. Village of Colonie Mayor Frank Leak graciously opened the Village of Colonie Family Recreation Center for our meeting. Mayor Leak told us of a recent visit he made to the Rapp Road landfill at the invitation of Albany County Legislators William Clay and Frank Commisso….
Monarch Butterfly Conservation Crisis Monarch Butterfly Conservation Crisis On September 12, 2000, The New York Times published an urgent warning by noted Monarch butterfly expert Dr. Lincoln P. Brower, and other scientists and conservationists, describing a crisis situation at the Monarch butterfly’s overwintering grounds in central Mexico (The New York Times, Science Times, p. 1). Ten days later, the New York City Parks Department hosted a “who’s who” of Monarch experts and conservationists in New York’s Central Park, to inform…
by John Wolcott Click on map to see larger image Now: you can see it at a glance. The top topo map displayed here, is of the Karner Dune Field, the Type Locality of the Karner Blue Butterfy, in the Pine Bush, as it was way before Rte. 155 appeared. A unified field, fully connected west to east. This dune field is a grouping of sand dunes within the much larger Schenectady-Albany “Dune Belt.” All. of the cultural information has,…
by Lynne Jackson SCHENECTADY: Volunteers for Save the Pine Bush (SPB) were invited by the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) to participate in a charette regarding eliminating the at-grade crossings at Morris and Cordell Roads in Colonie. The stated goal of the charette was to come up with ideas to allow safe passage of high-speed trains through the Pine Bush by eliminating the dangerous at-grade crossings. Volunteers for SPB were told over and over that DOT had no…
by Lynne Jackson ALBANY, NY: The First Presbyterian Church was the location of the March Save the Pine Bush vegetarian dinner which featured the excellent presentation on biodiversity and Lyme Disease by Kathleen LoGiudice, PhD. Dr. LoGiudice opened her remarks by saying that the battle over Crossgates Mall made a big impression on her in high school. She was pleased that Save the Pine Bush was still fighting after all of these years. In the beginning of her presentation, she…
ALBANY: The City of Albany tried to sneak in legislation at the last minute that would radically change the protection of the Pine Bush Preserve. The Albany Common Council, in vote of 11-4, asked the NYS Legislature to pass a home rule bill to alienate 12.5 acres of protected Pine Bush Preserve in order for the land to be used to expand the City’s current landfill. Assemblyman John J. McEneny sponsored the bill in the NYS Assembly. Despite the secrecy…