By Lynne Jackson
GUILDERLAND: The Guilderland Town Board has adopted a new Comprehensive Plan for the Town. Beginning the plan update process in the fall of 2022, the Town Board adopted the Town of Guilderland Comprehensive Plan Update, November 2025.
Starting last summer, members of Save the Pine Bush attended many meetings of the Guilderland Town Board to advocate for Pine Bush Preservation. Initially, the Plan Update mentioned the Pine Bush in a sentence or two. Due to the advocacy of Save the Pine Bush volunteers, the Comprehensive Plan Update now has an entire section on the Pine Bush beginning on Page 10. The cover of the Plan Update even has two photos from the Pine Bush — a photo of the Karner Blue butterfly and a photo of blue lupine.
In the Plan, the Town acknowledges the importance of Pine Bush preservation.
From page 10 of the Plan:
“The single largest portion of privately-owned undeveloped Pine Bush ecosystem is located in the Town of Guilderland and constitutes approximately 1,795 acres. The Town of Guilderland should strive to protect all of this remaining, undeveloped Pine Bush ecosystem.” [emphasis added]
From page 17 of the Plan:
“It is important for the Town of Guilderland to preserve land in the Albany Pine Bush ecosystem to protect a globally rare ecosystem, conserve endangered wildlife, manage stormwater, and maintain the region’s character.”[emphasis added]
On page 107, the Plan outlines steps for Pine Bush preservation:
“Create an action plan for the identification, voluntary acquisition, and management of properties that comprise a comprehensive open space and natural resource preservation system. . .
“The Town should also consider adopting an overlay zone within the Pine Bush Preserve Management Area as a land preservation tool. Utilizing these land preservation techniques will assist in preserving land within partial protection and full protection areas within the Pine Bush Preserve Management Area.”
From page 113 of the Plan:
“E-19. Establish a program for acquiring key properties in Town to preserve as open space by prioritizing land that offers significant ecological, recreational, scenic, and community benefits. It will be funded through a dedicated mechanism and guided by clear, publicly vetted criteria.”
Save the Pine Bush volunteers submitted extensive comments on the draft update plan. Read the comments here: https://www.townofguilderland.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4523/Save-the-Pine-Bush-PDF.
In late October, 2025, Town of Guilderland Supervisor Peter Barber spoke at the unveiling of the John Wolcott Pine Bush Hikers’ Underpass. In his speech, he mentioned a couple of the Save the Pine Bush volunteers who had attended so many meetings, including a Town Board meeting the night before. He said he knew that Russell Ziemba lived in Troy and cared so much about the Pine Bush that he came all the way to Guilderland to speak about the Pine Bush. And, he said he kept thinking of one word Lynne Jackson kept saying over and over at the meetings, waking up at 3:00 that morning, thinking of “ecosystem.”
Clearly, attendance at public meetings can have a significant impact on public policy. Getting such an extensive mention of the importance of the Pine Bush in the new Guilderland Comprehensive Plan Update will hopefully move Guilderland to preserve more of the privately-held Pine Bush ecosystem land in the Town.
See the entire Comprehensive Plan adopted by the Town: https://www.townofguilderland.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4536/Comprehensive-Plan-Update-PDF