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Category: 24 New Karner Road

Amanda Dillon: Science in the Albany Pine Bush Preserve

Amanda Dillon: Science in the Albany Pine Bush Preserve

by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: Amanda Dillon, field ecologist and entomologist for the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission (Commission), was the speaker at the November 16 Save the Pine Bush virtual meeting. She discussed “Science in the Albany PIne Bush Preserve.” Amanda Dillon earned both a BS in Natural History and Interpretation in 2007 and a MS in Environmental Forest Biology with a concentration in entomology from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry Ms….

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Save the Pine Bush Lost Good Friends – Jim Travers, Save the Pine Bush Volunteer

Save the Pine Bush Lost Good Friends – Jim Travers, Save the Pine Bush Volunteer

ALBANY, NY: Lynne Jackson was asked to speak at Jim’s memorial service. Here are her edited comments. Jim was a passionate advocate for the environment. With Save the Pine Bush, he worked tirelessly opposing the expansion of the Albany Landfill in the Pine Bush. But, he especially worked to stop the City of Albany from operating a landfill on 361 acres of beautiful woodland in the Town of Coeymans, where he lived. Jim read and researched landfills extensively. He knew…

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Wanted Dead or Alive: Karner Blues — My Pine Bush History Report

Wanted Dead or Alive: Karner Blues — My Pine Bush History Report

Social Media Today and Then I’m a kid and I know that social media can take societal issues we care about and make them go viral in real time. But in 1977, way before the internet or even personal computers, when my grandfather Rocco Ferran was a resident in Albany New York and active to help secure the Pine Bush for future generations, like me, social media was, well, slower and had far less reach. From my research, social media…

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Save the Pine Bush Update and the War on Terror

Save the Pine Bush Update and the War on Terror

by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: Lynne Jackson spoke about current developments in the Pine Bush and Steve Downs about The War on Terror – Twenty Years Later, at the February 23 Save the Pine Bush virtual meeting. After thanking SPB members for their financial contributions to assist one of SPB’s dinner chefs, Adam Baldwin, with his sudden medical bills, Lynne thanked Andy Arthur for creating an on-line “event sweeper” that quickly identifies proposed projects in the pine barrens sections of…

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Altamont Enterprise: Appeal heard in second suit filed against Guilderland, Pyramid

Altamont Enterprise: Appeal heard in second suit filed against Guilderland, Pyramid

From the Altamont Enterprise on Thursday, March 24, 2022 – 19:03 GUILDERLAND — A panel of five appellate court judges this week heard arguments in the second lawsuit to land in their laps over Pyramid’s proposed Rapp Road and Western Avenue projects. Save the Pine Bush filed its suit in November 2020 based on the Guilderland Planning Board’s adoption of a findings statement for Pyramid’s proposed 222-unit residential development and Costco Wholesale store in addition to the site-plan approval given…

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4298 Albany Street, Town of Colonie

4298 Albany Street, Town of Colonie

Dear All, Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 8, the Town of Colonie Planning Board will have a sketch plan review for an 8,000 sq foot warehouse on the 4.8 acre vacant lot behind Yonder Farms in the Albany Pine Bush — 4298 Albany Street.  The Planning Board meets at 6:00 PM at the Town of Colonie Memorial Town Hall, 534 New Loudon Rd, Latham, NY 12110. This is a relatively small lot and it’s next to existing warehouses and Yonder Farms, but it…

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Albany Pine Bush Commission, RE: 2772 & 2792 Curry Rd. – Eden Renewables proposed Solar Farm

Albany Pine Bush Commission, RE: 2772 & 2792 Curry Rd. – Eden Renewables proposed Solar Farm

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…

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Curry Road Solar Colonie (Eden Renewables) Proposed on 75-acres of Full Protection Lands

Curry Road Solar Colonie (Eden Renewables) Proposed on 75-acres of Full Protection Lands

As much as we love solar, the Eden Renewable Solar Project in Colonie is NOT okay. Dear Save the Pine Bush Friends, Please come to the public hearing regarding the proposed Solar Farm in the Pine Bush. I have included links to the documents and maps. Thank you so much, Lynne Jackson For Save the Pine Bush Join the next fight for the Pine Bush Wednesday, June 1, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Town of Colonie…

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SPB Newsletters Listed by Date – 2000s

SPB Newsletters Listed by Date – 2000s

2020s 🦋 2010s 🦋 2000s 🦋 1990s Search Newsletter Archives: 2009 🦋 2008 🦋 2007 🦋 2006 🦋 2005 🦋 2004 🦋 2003 🦋 2002 🦋 2001 🦋 2000 2009 October/November 2009 – Download printable PDF version Bringing Back Sustainable Karner Blue Populations, October/November, 2009 September Biogas Talk, October/November, 2009 Buckmoth Monitoring, October/November, 2009 Neither a Borrower or a Lender Be, October/November, 2009 Pesticide Reductions Won at Albany Common Council – We can fight City Hall and Win!, October/November, 2009…

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SPB Newsletters Listed by Date – 2010s

SPB Newsletters Listed by Date – 2010s

2020s 🦋 2010s 🦋 2000s 🦋 1990s Search Newsletter Archives: 2019 🦋 2018 🦋 2017 🦋 2016 🦋 2015 🦋 2014 🦋 2013 🦋 2012 🦋 2011 🦋 2010 2019 Newsletter 🦋 December/January 2019-20 Newsletter Download printable PDF version Listen to the Podcasts Merton Simpson — Fighting Environmental Racial Injustice, December/January 2019 Air Pollution in Albany’s South End, December/January 2019 Dunn Landfill — Stinks Up the School; Parents and Residents Protest, December/January 2019 Proposals in the Pine Bush December/January 2019…

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Build It And They Will Come: Cousin of Karner Blue Returns To Albany

Build It And They Will Come: Cousin of Karner Blue Returns To Albany

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…

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Research

Research

Here are some helpful tools to help you research development and land use changes in Albany Pine Bush. Properties on the Planning Board Agendas See our Planning Board Agenda Tracker. Search a Property You can search a property here, however it must be in a very specific format to match the tax record, like this describing the property: 20 New Karner Rd, Town of Guilderland. If you don’t have that level of detail or nothing is returned, you should use…

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Curry Road Solar Guilderland (Borrego Solar) Proposed on 48-acres of Full Protection Lands

Curry Road Solar Guilderland (Borrego Solar) Proposed on 48-acres of Full Protection Lands

As much as we love solar, the Borrego Solar Project in Guilderland is NOT okay. Note: This proposal has been pulled. We are continuing to monitor future development proposals for this property. They will be submitting their site plan review to the Planning Board on Wednesday, September 8 2021.  This project is in a full Pine Bush Protection Area and has not been approved by the Albany Planning Board. They want to cut trees, it is out of character with…

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Proposed Crossgates Development

Proposed Crossgates Development

GUILDERLAND, NY: Rapp Road Development, a corporate entity of Pyramid/Crossgates, is proposing to build on about 46 acres of land. Originally, the proposal was to build 222 apartments on 20 acres of land adjacent to the Pine Bush preserve. After the Town Planning Board appointed themselves the lead agency, the project was exapanded to include a proposed Costco and an undefined commercial/residential development on an additional 26 acres of land. The proposal is huge. To put this proposed development in…

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Guilderland and Pyramid look for second suit, filed by Save the Pine Bush, to be dismissed 

Guilderland and Pyramid look for second suit, filed by Save the Pine Bush, to be dismissed 

Guilderland and Pyramid look for second suit, filed by Save the Pine Bush, to be dismissed  Monday, August 2, 2021 – 19:13 Enterprise file photo — Michael Koff The not-for-profit group Save The Pine Bush, in November 2020, celebrated when Westmere residents won a lawsuit (which was recently overturned) that stopped construction of two Pyramid projects. GUILDERLAND — With one win in hand, the town and Pyramid are looking to run up the score, asking the judge in a second lawsuit…

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Development in Albany Pine Bush – 2010 to 2020

Development in Albany Pine Bush – 2010 to 2020

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…

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24 New Karner Road Senior Living Facility – Speak out on July 13th

24 New Karner Road Senior Living Facility – Speak out on July 13th

Dear All, In two weeks, the Town of Guilderland will hold an in-person hearing on Pine Bush Senior Living PUD-24 New Karner Road on Tuesday July 13. The Town Board meeting begins at 7 PM This project was approved in 2015, but, it appears that the developer never broke ground. See the Altamont Enterprise article:https://altamontenterprise.com/04042019/depth-look-pine-bush-senior-living Here is the site plan:https://www.townofguilderland.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif3196/f/uploads/200285-3-full_set-4.16.21_2.pdf Here are the documents related to the hearing:https://www.townofguilderland.org/town-board/pages/pine-bush-senior-living-pud-24-new-karner-road I cannot find the Environmental Assessment Form or the Environmental Impact Statement…

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3131 East Old State Road Subdivision – Pine Bush in Danger !

3131 East Old State Road Subdivision – Pine Bush in Danger !

Dear All, Another proposed development is on the Planning Board agenda for next Wednesday.  Please see information below and link. The EAF notes that Frosted Elfin and Karner Blue are on the site. People who are interested should plan on attending the Planning Board meeting and writing to the Planning Board about this proposal. Thanks so much,Lynne Jackson A G E N D A GUILDERLAND PLANNING BOARD PLANNING BOARD MAY 26, 2021 07:00 PM  1. Call to Order  2. Approval…

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PAUSE – Zero Waste

PAUSE – Zero Waste

by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission (APBPC or Commission) Conservation Director Neil Gifford spoke at SPB’s June 19 dinner about the ongoing work of the the Com- mission and the proposed Pyramid Crossgates 222-unit apartment development on Rapp Road inGuilderland. He began saying that “in no small part do we [the Commission] owe our existence” to the work of Save the Pine Bush. At it’s best, he said the Pine Bush is a savanna with some…

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Neil Gifford Brings Good News

Neil Gifford Brings Good News

by Lynne Jackson   ALBANY: Neil Gifford, conservation director of the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission, spoke at the Save the Pine Bush Earth Day dinner on April 22. He brought good news. Neil began by describing “young forest management.” Young forests are dominated by shrubs and saplings, and are often found where old farm fields and pastures used to be, in places regenerating from timber and in pine barrens. Many species of greatest conservation need live in these young…

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10 New Karner Road Subdivison

10 New Karner Road Subdivison

This evening 1/12, the Concept Plan Review for a 2 Lot Minor Subdivision – 10 New Karner Road in the Pine Bush will be under consideration by the Town Planning Board. See the agenda here. You may also provide comment during the meeting by dialing (929) 205-6099, and entering Meeting ID: 870 8196 7894 and Passcode: 726808 Read Save the Pine Bush’s comments on the proposed subdivision and commercial development of the Pine Bush. On 4/17, Save the Pine Bush…

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Nabokov’s Blues

Nabokov’s Blues

Nabokov’s Blues Save the Pine Bush Sues City of Albany and Department of Environmental Conservation Over Illegal Landfill in the Pine Bush ALBANY, NY: Save the Pine Bush filed suit against the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the City of Albany over the permit approval for the City of Albany P-4 landfill expansion on Rapp Road. Save the Pine Bush is suing on the grounds that the permit approval was illegal because the authority to grant a…

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Proclamation Calling on Congress to Fund Urgently Needed Services in Albany County and Throughout the United States by Reducing Military Spending

Proclamation Calling on Congress to Fund Urgently Needed Services in Albany County and Throughout the United States by Reducing Military Spending

ALBANY — Tucked in among suburban sprawl at the border of Albany, Colonie and Guilderland, 3,000 acres of pine barrens are becoming a kind of avian rest stop for an increasing number of birds that need a very special kind of landscape — one that’s disappearing elsewhere in New York. The Albany Pine Bush Preserve is an emerging example of a so-called “shrubland” that certain bird species need to breed and thrive, said Neil Gifford, the preserve’s conservation director. Dominated by stunted…

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Devil Eats Developer – Massive Coverup Alleged

Devil Eats Developer – Massive Coverup Alleged

Devil Eats Developer – Massive Coverup Alleged Devil Eats Developer Massive Coverup Alleged By Daniel Van Riper The endangered Albany Pine Bush Devil, making it’s first reported appearance since last April Fools, has attacked and eaten developer Charlie Touhey, thus dramatically ending his stubborn and irrational plans to destroy Pine Bush acreage at 300 Washington Ave. Extension. The Albany Pine Bush Devil is a rare subspecies of the equally rare Jersey Devil found in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey….

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Driving Backwards – Transportation Committee Shuns The Future

Driving Backwards – Transportation Committee Shuns The Future

Driving Backwards – Transportation Committee Shuns The Future Driving Backwards Transportation Committee Shuns The Future By Daniel Van Riper Don’t expect to take a take a train to Saratoga anytime soon. Regional traffic planners appear to have little political will to provide taxpayers and citizens of the Capital District with alternatives to driving cars, such as light rail, busses or even bicycle paths. Kristina Younger, Senior Transportation Planner for the Capital District Transportation Committee (CDTC), spoke at the January 22nd…

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Walk in the Pine Bush!

Walk in the Pine Bush!

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…

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Save the Pine Bush

Save the Pine Bush

Karner Blue Butterfly eggs are being cut open and eaten, and still no culprit has been found. The ants, however, have not been ruled out as suspects. Dr. Peter Spoor gave an update on his investigations into the lifestyle and habits of the friendly butterfly at the Sept. 26 dinner at the Unitarian Church. Stunning slides of their eggs under an electron microscope failed to reveal what sort of creature is leaving it’s marks along the broken edges. Other excellent…

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Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission Proposes a New Plan – Mark October 18 to Attend Hearing

Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission Proposes a New Plan – Mark October 18 to Attend Hearing

Maps available: A new graphic Pine Bush trail map is now available. The new map was produced using a Global Positioning System to record trail locations. The brochure includes a mural depicting many of the typical plants and animals, interpretive information and a summary of the Preserve’s public use rules and regulations. The Preserve guide and trail map can be obtained from the Albany Pine Bush office or at trailhead kiosks. (785-1800). Preserve Regulations: BICYCLES may only travel on the…

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Show Down Over Roundup

Show Down Over Roundup

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…

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The Albany Pine Bush Management Commission

The Albany Pine Bush Management Commission

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…

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Save the Pine Bush

Save the Pine Bush

Proposed Hotel in the Pine Bush     Hotel Update: Oral Arguements in the NY Court of Appeals Tuesday, September 15 at 2:00 The Court of Appeals is next door to Albany City Hall. This is an extremely significant case, and could, if we win change who has standing in SEQRA cases. Click here to read Amicus briefs Read attorney Steve Downs’ commentary about the hotel case here. Action Alert! Hear the Oral Arguments in the NYS Appellate Division Friday,…

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Pyramid Submits the Draft Environmental Impact Statement

Pyramid Submits the Draft Environmental Impact Statement

GUILDERLAND, NY: On Christmas Eve, Pyramid Crossgates submitted the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for their project, “Rapp Road Residential /Western Avenue Mixed Use Redevelopment Projects.” When first brought before the Town of Guilderland Planning Board in late 2018, the project consisted of building 222-unit apartment complex on Rapp Road. The project has morphed into 312-unit apartment complex on Rapp Road, a CostCo complete with a gas station plus other commercial development. According to the NY State Environmental Quality Review…

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Draft Environmental Impact Statement

Draft Environmental Impact Statement

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…

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Save the Pine Bush

Save the Pine Bush

Resting on a leaf, click on photo to see larger picture. So much controversy over such a tiny butterfly-the Karner Blue, Lycaeides melissa samuelis. A beautiful pale blue, this tiny creature only lives in its adult form for one to two weeks. Named by Vladimir Nabokov (probably better known for his writing than his lepidoptery), there were once so many butterflies that all one could see were clouds of blue. Now, only a few hundred survive in the Pine Bush….

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The Uyt Kyck Drumlin In The Schenectady – Albany Pine Bush

The Uyt Kyck Drumlin In The Schenectady – Albany Pine Bush

By John Wolcott By way of an etremely simplyfied explaination s drumlin is a major and fairly popularly known outwash feature of glaciial retreat. Over hundreds of thousand of years there have been four major glacial periods on earth when glaciers formed and spread north from the South Pole and south form the North Pole. Then there were interglacial warmer periods. There were miner fluctuations of re advance and re retreat. The fourth North American Glacial Advance; the Wisconsin moved…

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Pine Bush Update from the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission

Pine Bush Update from the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission

The Butterfly Station located at the Farnsworth Middle School has completed its fifth year of operation reaching over 2,600 people over a seven week period during July and August, 2003…60 students in grades 6-11 volunteered three to five weeks of their summer as guides at the Butterfly Station a well as rearing butterflies and maintaining native plant and butterfly gardens and seven faculty also dedicated their summer to the operation of the Butterfly Station. In mid-August, eight students from the…

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The Federal Karner Blue Butterfly Recovery Plan

The Federal Karner Blue Butterfly Recovery Plan

by Sandy Sheridan What are we going to do about these butterflies? What the US Fish and Wildlife Service thinks should be done has been specifically outlined in the “Karner Blue Butterfly Recovery Plan” (October 2001). This 239-page plan comprehensively describes the Karner Blue, its plight and the plan of action to perpetuate its populations in the 13 recovery units (RU’s) identified. The Pine Bush is one of the 13 RU’s examined. Lycaeides melissa samuelis, the Karner Blue Butterfly, is…

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A Comfy White Quilt for Karner Blues

A Comfy White Quilt for Karner Blues

DEVI ATHIAPPAN Associated Press WILTON — Whiling away months of unforgiving cold beneath a deep quilt of snow might not seem like the best way to start life. But the snow is cozy for the eggs of endangered Karner blue butterflies. The small, white dots overwinter on stems or the ground, usually exposed to dry, cold air, but insulated this winter by heavy snowfall. The eggs are escaping “freezer burn” under a white blanket, said Kathy O’Brien, a wildlife biologist…

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Ward Stone Receives EPA Award

Ward Stone Receives EPA Award

In our August/September newsletter, we detailed the Roman Catholic Diocese proposed senior housing program, which, if built, would seriously impact the ability of the Karner Blue to survive in the Pine Bush. Please write to the Bishop to ask him to re-locate the Avila House Independent Senior Campus outside of the Pine Bush. Below is a sample letter. Please feel free to alter it, but please write! For more information on the proposed senior housing program, complete with maps, please…

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A Journey to Nabokov’s Karner, New York – a Conservation Dilemma

A Journey to Nabokov’s Karner, New York – a Conservation Dilemma

  A recent date to speak about Nabokov’s blues in Albany, New York — the state’s capital — afforded me a chance to visit what is left of old “Karner”, New York. Karner is the little hamlet that, in common parlance, has attached its name to Nabokov’s famous endangered species Lycaeides melissa samuelis, the “Karner Blue”. Karner got the nod for samuelis’s common name because Nabokov chose specimens of samuelis from Karner for his type series (the specimens he used…

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Guilderland Approves – – Another Pine Bush Development

Guilderland Approves – – Another Pine Bush Development

by Lynne Jackson On Wednesday, July 24, the Guilderland Planning Board gave preliminary approval to the construction of 70 houses in the largest roadless area of the Pine Bush. Before giving approval, the Board held a hearing. Lynne Jackson of Save the Pine Bush spoke at the hearing, and wrote down her comments in a letter. The Altamont Enterprise printed her letter on August 1. To the Editor: This past Wednesday, I attended a public hearing on the Lone Pine 7…

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16-09 Sept-Oct Newsletter

16-09 Sept-Oct Newsletter

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…

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Stop the Hotel! Ask the Governor and the Mayor To Do the Right Thing

Stop the Hotel! Ask the Governor and the Mayor To Do the Right Thing

by Lynne Jackson ALBANY: Are you sick and tired of reading about the proposed hotel in the Pine Bush? Are you tired of sprawl in the Pine Bush? Are you disgusted that the largest hotel corporation in the US wants to pave occupied Karner Blue habitat for parking lots and a building? Time to do something! Contact Governor Eliot Spitzer and Mayor Gerald Jennings and propose a win-win solution. How can the site be saved? The State of New York…

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City Can’t Decide!

City Can’t Decide!

by Lynne Jackson ALBANY: The City of Albany is taking two contradictory positions on the proposed hotel in the Pine Bush. Council Stonewalls Developer: The Honorable Daniel Herring (Ward 13) held a Common Council Planning and Development committee meeting on October 9 to discuss the SDEIS (Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement) written and submitted by the developer. The SDEIS was referred to committee by the Common Council because an important letter from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) was…

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News from Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission

News from Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission

Members of the public are invited to provide written comments towards the process of reviewing and/or amending the 2002 Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Albany Pine Bush Preserve. Comments can address all aspects of the Commission’s work including land protection, habitat or natural resource management, public education and recreation. Comments are due by 4:00pm August 31, 2007 and may be mailed via postal service or email to:, Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission, c/o Margaret Stein, 195…

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Petition Filed With State Dec Seeks Ruling On 1994 Protection Agreement For Karner Blue In Clifton Park

Petition Filed With State Dec Seeks Ruling On 1994 Protection Agreement For Karner Blue In Clifton Park

CLIFTON PARK: A petition for a Declaratory Ruling under the State Administrative Procedure Act was submitted in January to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation by the environmental preservation group, Save the Pine Bush together with 22 Capital Region residents asking the DEC to rule on a 1994 habitat protection agreement meant to save the endangered Karner blue butterfly and its associated ecosystem near Wood Road in the Town of Clifton Park. The petition, dated January 23, was filed on…

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Crossgates Wants to Build a Hotel in the Pine Bush

Crossgates Wants to Build a Hotel in the Pine Bush

by Lynne Jackson ALBANY: On Thursday, August 26, the Zoning Committee of the Albany Common Council held a scoping hearing on the proposed 124-Unit Residence Inn in the Pine Bush. This hotel would be built next to the Karner Blue butterfly hill, which is the only large site of Karner Blues south of the Thruway. Last year, when Pyramid Crossgates first proposed this Residence Inn, Save the Pine Bush asked the Council to require a Scoping Hearing, which is a…

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Charette a Charade

Charette a Charade

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…

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Crossword Puzzle

Crossword Puzzle

by Sandy Sheridan Birk Try your hand at our first Save the Pine Bush Crossword puzzle! Click here for answer key. Across 1. The Karner Blue Butterfly is currently listed as ____________. 5. Butterfly’s young 8. How many generations of Karner Blue Butterflies are hatched each year in the Pine Bush? 9. These insects often share a mutualistic relationship with the Karner Blue Butterfly. 10. The soil in the Pine Bush is full of _____________. 13. _____________ the Pine Bush!…

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Crossgates is a Bad Neighbor

Crossgates is a Bad Neighbor

by Lynne Jackson OK, Crossgates has been in the news a lot recently. Actually, they made it into the international news. Save the Pine Bush has received emails from out raged people as far away as Sydney Australia, and California. People are mad. To recap: On Monday evening, March 3, Stephen Downs and his son Roger, were stopped by a security guard at Crossgates Maul. They were wearing T-shirts which they had just purchased at the mall. Stephen’s T-shirt said…

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