by Lynne Jackson

SCHENECTADY, NY: The Schenectady Public Library was the site of an organizational meeting of people interested in permanently preserving the Woodlawn Preserve and Pine Bush in Niskayuna and the Town of Colonie. More than fifteen people attended.

A presentation was made about what is happening at the moment with Woodlawn and the Town of Colonie.

After the public hearing on the proposal by the City of Schenectady to sell Woodlawn to a developer to build houses, nothing has happened (which is good). It was obvious to the City Council that citizens opposed the sale of the land. However, unless something is done about the problems with the land (dumping of garbage and ATV use), it is clear that more development proposals will be entertained by the Council.

The challenge is how to preserve this area permanently.

In the Town of Colonie, a couple of development proposals have been made on Pine Bush land that would be important to protect. In addition, Pine Bush owned by Niagara-Mohawk Power Corporation should be added to the Preserve to make a hiking trail.

Much work needs to be done to protect the Western Pine Bush and Woodlawn. The people who attended the organizing meeting decided to create five committees to address preserving this land. The five committees are Stewardship, Management and Acquisition, By-laws, Education, Sprawl and Economic Issues. Anyone interested in helping to protect this land is welcome to help out on one or more of the committees. Please contact Jeff Edwards at jeffe@nycap.rr.com or Lynne Jackson at pinebush@aol.com for more information or to volunteer. Also, anyone interested in volunteering to become an officer in this new organization is welcome contact John Van Deloo at jvdmd@aol.com.