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Escape from the tent Escape from the tent We found the police presence to be overwhelming.
Escape from the tent Escape from the tent We found the police presence to be overwhelming.
By Ted Remsnyder | February 9, 2023 TROY — Ward Stone, who served as the state’s wildlife pathologist for over four decades, died Wednesday morning at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson after a long illness. Stone, who held his post with the Department of Environmental Conservation from 1969 until his retirement in 2010, left behind a long legacy of environmental advocacy in his 41 years on the job. Stone, 84, is survived by six children and his longtime partner Mary…
For his keen detective work on the causes of death to New York’s wildlife, state wildlife pathologist Ward Stone has received a special award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs commended the seasoned scientist for the quality of his research, which has led to restrictions being placed on diazinon and other pesticides linked to bird and animal deaths. ÒTo your credit, these data have been used and continue to be used in many of…
Monday, 2/25. Doors open at 6:30 PM, talk starts promptly at 7. Place: Bethlehem Public Library, Community Room, 451 Delaware Ave., Delmar 12054 Bethlehem and other municipalities in new York have an opportunity to choose a renewable energy electricity supply option for its residential customers. This option will save money for residents, reduce air and water pollution and represent an important step towards a sustainable energy future for Bethlehem as well as for other Capital District communities. This presentation will…
by Barbara Heinzen COEYMANS, NY: In December, 2017, Mike Ewall, of the Energy Justice Network, alerted Albany County and the Town of Coeymans that Connecticut was considering a proposal to ship municipal trash to the LaFarge/Holcim Cement Plant in Ravena. In response, Albany County and the Town of Coeymans organized a packed press conference two days after Christmas where former EPA Administrator, Judith Enck, spoke against Connecticut’s proposal. On December 31, 2017, Connecticut decided to keep its trash to itself….
by Tom Ellis ALBANY. NY: There is much to report on issues regarding solid wastes. The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC or En Con)) DEC held a public hearing in Albany to receive comments on proposed revisions to its Part 360 regulations, DEC is assisting the Town of Colonie with its landfill expansion application,” and the City of Albany recently held a short public comment period on its proposals to (1) mechanize the collection of household wastes and recyclables,…
Editor’s note: we all love turtles at Save the Pine Bush and Rezsin thought others would enjoy this success story SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s governor on Saturday signed a law to protect a swath of land along the island’s northeast coast that is a top U.S. nesting site for the world’s largest turtle species. The law ends a 15-year fight that environmentalists and celebrities including actor Benicio Del Toro had waged against developers eager to…
by Kathryn Sukalich, December 20th, 2012, Earth 911 If you’re throwing a holiday party this year, you may run into the dilemma of how to get your guests to recycle. Well-meaning guests may accidentally throw recyclables in the trash, and at a large gathering it can be hard for you as the host or hostess to keep things under control. To prevent having to sort through your garbage Plan Ahead: Choose Easy-to-Recycle Items One of the main reasons a guest might accidentally…
Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY The Albany County Legislature is considering legislation that would extend the ban on the use of one-time use (take-out) food and beverage polystyrene foam containers from restaurants and eateries with fifteen or more establishments in the US (enacted three years ago) to all restaurants and eateries in the county. A public hearing was held on November 22 at which the polystyrene industry sent eight or nine representatives who spoke in opposition to the proposed law. Three…
Action Alert! Touhey Gets A Boost Politicians Defy Voters Action Alert! Touhey Gets A Boost Politicians Defy Voters By Daniel Van Riper The Zoning Committee of the Albany Common Council handed stubborn developer Charlie Touhey a key approval of his proposed destruction of Pine Bush at 300 Washington Avenue Extension. By a vote of 3 to 1 the committee approved Touhey’s environmental impact statement (EIS), in effect saying that destroying the Pine Bush will have no impact on the Pine…
AUDUBON’S ENDANGERED SPECIES WORKSHOP and Save the Pine Bush Audubon’s Endangered Species Workshop Five Rivers Environmental Education Center Delmar, New York Saturday, November 22, 1997 AGENDA 9:30 a.m. Registration & Refreshments 9:45 a.m. Welcome and Overview David Gibson, Capital Region Audubon 10:00 a.m. The Endangered Species Act History & Current Status in Congress Kathleen Rogers, Endangered Species Campaign National Audubon Society 10:30 a.m. How the Endangered Species Act works in New York State Peter Nye, Endangered Species Unit of…
Weather is supposed to be sunny, mid-40s. Volunteers still needed. Capital District climate, community and faith groups are organizing a rally and march in Albany on Saturday, November 6 as part of the COP26-focused Global Day of Action for Climate Justice. The rally and march will start at 11 AM at the Radix Ecological Sustainability Center, 153 Grand St, Albany. The march will conclude with a rally at the federal O’Brien Building at 12:30 PM at Clinton and Pearl Sts….
Below are excerpts from an article about Peter Buttner from the Altamont Enterprise: Peter J.R. Buttner was a man who, by his own reckoning, worked to build a brighter future no matter how dark the present. He did this in his personal life and in his professional life as director of Environmental Management for the state. He also did this for his community; when he lived in Guilderland, Dr. Buttner led a citizens’ board that pushed to have toxic…
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…
From Andy Arthur, our hike leader: Save the Pine Bush Hike Canceled That said, you are more then welcomed — and encouraged to take your own hikes at the Albany Pine Bush. Unlike other public lands in the area, the area is snow and ice free. Additionally, based on my recent walks in the preserve, the all trails are dry and mud-free except a short section of the Red Trail at the Great Dunes off Willow Drive near the vernal…
Interview with Helen Caldicott Interview with Helen Caldicott The upcoming issue of the Journal of Family Life, a Quarterly for Empowering Families a nationally distributed magazine produced by the Free School community in Albany, will feature an in depth interview with Dr. Helen Caldicott, founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility in which she discusses the brewing nuclear crisis in Asia as well as the newly discovered dangers of hormone disrupting synthetic chemicals in the human food chain. The issue…
DEC reintroduces box turtles in Albany Pine Bush Experiment Born Free DEC reintroduces box turtles in Albany Pine Bush Experiment Reprinted from the Daily Gazette, June 24, 1997, By Paitrick Kurp, Gazette Reporter COLONIE – Deep in the Albany Pine Bush – some 500 yards, that is, from the New York State Thruway – among the pitch pines, white oaks and chestnut oaks, stands a rickety corral of wooden stakes and chicken wire. The floor of the 400 square foot…
The word that springs to mind for the University at Albany’s greasy plan to level 25 acres of classic pine bush on campus in order to build its own version of suburban sprawl isn’t printable. So I’ll settle for a distant second choice: pandering. “We’re told garden apartments are what today’s students want,” said a spokesman for the university. And parking for their cars, too. A marketing survey says do education this way. Give them what they want or they’ll…
by Lynne Jackson ALBANY: John Waffenschmidt, Vice-President & Business Development, Covanta Energy spoke at the Save the Pine Bush vegetarian-vegan lasagna dinner about Global Warming, Energy Use & Solid Waste Management at the First Presbyterian Church. He began by speaking about global warming. There is no question the globe is warming up. Effects of this global warming can be seen by rising waters in the coastal zone, and increase in forest fires and in rising temperatures. Temperatures have been collected…
By Lynne Jackson ALBANY: The proposed landfill expansion in the Albany Pine Bush could be used by the new administration in the State of New York as a catalyst for change in solid waste policy in the state. Over the past year, Save the Pine Bush has had many speakers discussing the solid waste issue. We had some speakers that were not popular with environmentalists who spoke about Waste-to-Energy. It was after John Waffenschmidt, Vice-President of Business Development from Covanta…
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…
After mis-quoting William Shakespeare in our last newsletter, I felt it was important to find another quote to illustrate the relationship between the Pine Bush and Iraq. This month, we are having Joe Quandt speak about Iraq. We usually limit our speaker to issues relating to the Pine Bush or other related environmental issues, and do not get involved in larger political issues. However, with the looming war in Iraq, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the…
The new York State Open Space Conservation Plan lists the Pine Bush as its number one priority in Region 4. The Plan states, “Albany Pine Bush: This area of Albany County supports a rare and endangered pine barrens ecosystem. The Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission adopted a clear, comprehensive set of recommendations in 1996 to guide land protection efforts to complete a viable preserve. While tremendous success has been achieved with the protection of nearly 2,750 acres to date, it…
“Study Shows Low Lyme Disease Risk” reads the headline in the Albany Times Union June 13, 2001. Comforting words. “Lyme disease is very difficult to catch, even from a deer tick in a Lyme-infested area, and it can easily be stopped in its tracks with two capsules of an antibiotic, a new study shows. Two other studies..conclude that prolonged and intensive use of antibiotics…does nothing for people with symptoms attributed to chronic Lyme disease. The findings are in keeping with…
by Tom Ellis Albany, NY: Kim Fraczek, Co-Director of the Sane Energy Project spoke on “Gas Infrastructure — The Big Picture” at the January 18 SPB dinner. She is very enthusiastic opinionated, and optimistic about blocking construction of many of the proposed natural gas pipelines in New York. She displayed an interactive, online map of all the gas infrastructure of New York created by Mary Finneran, and said it has now extended to include New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The map…
by Tim Truscott There has been plenty of energy pipeline news in the Capital Region of New York during the month of April. Here is some of it: Northeast Energy Direct Pipeline “Suspended” On April 20, Kinder Morgan, the developer for the Northeast Energy Direct (NED) 30-inch diameter natural gas pipeline, announced it was “suspending” the 400-mile, $3 billion proposed project, which would have run from the fracking fields of northern Pennsylvania to Dracut, Massachusetts, near Boston. The NED…
Get the family talking about all things recycling. If you don’t already recycle in your home, take this opportunity to open up the conversation. Talk to your kids about the importance of recycling and how it can help our environment. Did you know that the average American family wastes about 150 pounds of paper per year? Teach your kids about where paper comes from and how recycling can help save the trees and forests. And instead of having our plastic containers…
Save the Pine Bush Action Alert! Action Alerts! Call Your Albany City Common Council Member To oppose re-zoning of 365 Washington Avenue Extension (If you do not live in Albany, then choose someone to call). Call before March 20, 2000 Call Your Albany County Legislator To call for the County to request that part of the budget surplus be spent on acquiring land in the Pine Bush for preservation. Call any time. The more calls the better! Guilderland Comprehensive Management…
As ticks latch onto kids — not to mention their parents and pets — in big numbers this year, at least one middle school has decided there’s a little too much nature out there. But the bloodsucking creatures haven’t otherwise put too big a damper on spring field trips, despite a marked rise in their ranks in the Capitol Region this season.Guilderland’s Farnsworth Middle School canceled a trip to the Albany Pine Bush after a group of seventh-graders returned with…
By Grace Nichols Albany County is home to many bats, from the rare Myotis genus species, so vulnerable to White-nose syndrome for which we were a ground zero, to the more common Large Brown Bat, Hoary Bats, Red bats, Silver-haired Bats and Tri-colored bats. They come in a variety of sizes and colors and they are agile flyers, plucking insects from the air, hunting with both eyesight and special echolocation, using calls far above the frequency of sounds audible to…