Search Results for: 8 New Karner Road

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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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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Just Say No to the Bridge!

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…

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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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Returning to flight

CONCORD, N.H. – Two biologists crawled through a field thick with blueberry, black chokeberry, and scrub oak, searching for butterfly eggs the size of pinheads. Suddenly, one of them, Steve Fuller, thrust a hand into the air. “Found one!” he shouted. As his colleague, Heidi Holman, ran to his side, Fuller opened his hand to reveal a tiny white egg of the Karner blue butterfly, clinging to a twig. Eight years ago, it was impossible to find any sign in…

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NYS Climate Action Council

Dear Common Councilmembers: Thank you for again hearing our concerns about the need for good ecological and scientific review of the Pine Bush Mitigation/Restoration plan. There are many problems with the plan. Save the Pine Bush has presented many concerns to this body regarding the ecological impacts and financial waste involved in this mitigation plan. First, I want to make sure you have adequate information regarding the pesticides approved in the Integrated Pest Management plan. The list is made up…

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Save the Pine Bush

In celebration of the centenary of Vladimir Nabokov’s birth, Kurt Johnson and Steve Coats wrote Nabokov’s Blues, about Nabokov’s passion for butterflies and scientific investigations into blue butterflies. Our own Karner Blue butterfly has its own chapter called “Dancing with Fire” in the book. Here is a brief excerpt which describes Nabokov’s feelings for the Karner Blue. “Nabokov developed a deep, lifelong affection for this [the Karner Blue Butterfly]. In 1975, when he found out that The New York Times…

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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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Letters to Save the Pine Bush

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…

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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 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!

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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Michael Breslin Speaks

Michael Breslin Speaks   Michael Breslin Speaks by Ehren Evans Albany County Executive Breslin spoke at August’s lasagna dinner. It was an exciting opportunity for members of Save the Pine Bush to learn more about county government and the county executive. Mr. Breslin said his stint as county executive is the best job he ever had. He set up a program where parking places could be turned in for free bus passes and if you didn’t have a parking space,…

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The Pine Bush Getting Help from Seventh Graders

The Pine Bush Getting Help from Seventh Graders The Pine Bush Getting Help from Seventh Graders June/July 1995 The Albany Pine Bush is getting help from seventh graders from Farnsworth Middle School in Guilderland, to save the Blue Lupine so the Karner Blue Butterfly can have food. by Scott Mason, School Reporter ALBANY-In the Albany Pine Bush Preserve, local seventh graders from Farnsworth Middle School in Guilderland have hopes to save a rare plant called the Blue Lupine. They want…

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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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John Wolcott Versus The Dump – Skewering An Inane Document

John Wolcott Versus The Dump – Skewering An Inane Document John Wolcott Versus The Dump Skewering An Inane Document By John Wolcott Editor’s Note: Save the Pine Bush board member and dedicated enemy of deception John Wolcott has provided a blow by blow commentary on the "Summary of the 2nd Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Extension of the Albany Interim Landfill". This is the legal paperwork required before the City of Albany can start throwing trash and…

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Write to the Town of Guilderland Planning Board

Name of the project: Rapp Road Residential/Western Avenue Mixed Use Redevelopment Projects Email comments to: Kenneth Kovalchik, Town Planner, Kovalchikk@togny.org The Town of Guilderland Planning Board should reject the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed development by Pyramid (Crossgates) to build massive apartment complexes, office space and expansive retail on Rapp Road, the Mall Road and Western Avenue. This proposed development includes a Costco with 700 car parking lot and a gas station. The Town of Guilderland Planning…

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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 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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UAlbany Plan Adds to Spraw

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…

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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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They Have Their Niche Memo From The PB Commission

They Have Their Niche Memo From The PB Commission They Have Their Niche Memo From The PB Commission By Daniel Van Riper What is the Albany Pine Bush Commission, where did it come from, and what does it do for the Pine Bush? Back in 1989 Save the Pine Bush filed suit to stop the 25 acre expansion of the Albany Pine Bush Dump, which is euphemistically referred to by officials as "the landfill." Because the State of New York…

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Garage Sale Sucess!

A snow-covered field near Crossgates Mall may become a battleground over the effect of building in the Pine Bush and on that ecologically fragile area’s bellwether symbol, the Karner blue butterfly. Environmentalists are trying to fend off the nation’s largest independent hotel developer, which wants about four acres west of the mall’s movie theaters for a 124-room project. A fight is brewing because that site along Washington Avenue Extension is next to a protected preserve — surrounded by the mall…

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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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Making Good in Their Own Hometown&emdash;EPA Honors Aaron Mair and Farnsworth Middle School

Making Good in Their Own Hometown&emdash;EPA Honors Aaron Mair and Farnsworth Middle School Making Good in Their Own Hometown&emdash;EPA Honors Aaron Mair and Farnsworth Middle School by Rezsin Adams April 18, 2000 was the big day when the Environmental Protection Agency awarded their highest honor, the Environmental Quality Award, to Aaron Mair and Guilderland’s Farnsworth Middle School. Twenty-three awards were given in all of Region 2 to individuals, businesses and schools. Aaron Mair, Arbor Hill Environmental Justice Corporation, and Alan…

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Proposals for Paving the Pine Bush Come Fast and Furiously

Proposals for Paving the Pine Bush Come Fast and Furiously Proposals for Paving the Pine Bush Come Fast and Furiously Guilderland, Albany consider destroying Full Protection Areas Guilderland, Feeney and Ford: Town of Guilderland Planning Board officials heard a preliminary proposal to destroy 103 acres of Pine Bush by allowing 30 plush, expensive houses to be built on land owned by Feeney and Ford. This land is adjacent to and just west of the State Preserve. The Albany Pine Bush…

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Crossgates Expansion

Name of the project: Rapp Road Residential/Western Avenue Mixed Use Redevelopment Projects Here is the Draft Environmental Impact Statement website at the Town of Guilderland: https://www.townofguilderland.org/planning-board/pages/environmental-impact-statement-rapp-road-residentialwestern-avenue-mixed-use Save the Pine Bush’s comments on the DEIS Here are Save the Pine Bush’s comments written by Christopher M. Walker, , Legal Intern appearing pursuant to the Practice Order of Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic, Inc. Download all the documents in a zipped file. Save the Pine Bush Comment Appendix A Dr. Stager Appendix B Zamurs…

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Taking Lyme Fight to the Field

by William Engleman CLIFTON PARK: Representatives of three area environmental organizations and Town residents called on the Clifton Park Town Board to save the Karner Blue butterfly populations in the Town’s northeast corner, during the Town Board’s first regular meeting of the year, held on Monday evening January 3, 2005. Eight speakers, including representatives from Save the Pine Bush, Audubon Society of the Capital Region and the Hudson-Mohawk Group of the Sierra Club called on the Board to reverse the…

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9

No Credit Given – A Letter From the Commission No Credit Given A Letter From the Commission By Daniel Van Riper In their latest newsletter the Albany Pine Bush Management Commission gives credit for the rehabilitation of the parcel of land off Apollo Drive that used to be a truck parking lot to 3 corporations, 4 municipalities, 2 state offices, the Girl Scouts and the Nature Conservancy. Somehow Commission Director Willie Janeway forgot to mention that this land would now…

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Woodsfields Estates – Houses that Should Not Be Built

by Lynne Jackson Seventy- five houses are proposed for this 100 acre site in the western most part of the remaining Pine Bush in Guilderland, the last parcel of the largest roadless area in the Pine bush. This proposal, named “Woodsfields Estates” after what it will destroy, is part of the largest roadless area remaining in the Pine Bush in Guilderland. The Planning Board of the Town of Guilderland is the Lead Agency for the Woodsfields Estates proposal and will…

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9

ALBANY: The State Employees Federal Credit Union (SEFCU) building and surrounding land, located in the center of the Pine Bush on Route 155, was traded for state-owned land at the Harrimon State Office Campus. In the late 1980s, Save the Pine Bush sued over the zoning approval given to SEFCU and won. Judge Robert Williams ruled in Save the Pine Bush’s favor citing the fact that the Generic Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the City of Albany failed to take…

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Developer Bulldozes Lupine – Bad Behavior in Colonie

by Lynne Jackson, June/July 1998 Developer Jerry Phibbs has not denied bulldozing a patch of lupine that probably supported a colony of Karner Blue butterflies on his land in Colonie, just days before the butterflies were ready to hatch. At the Town of Colonie Planning Board meeting on May 30, where the charges were leveled by outraged speakers, Mr. Phibbs made no statements about the bulldozing. His representative at the meeting suggested that there is farming activity going on at…

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Man charged in bird-killing Albany

DINA CAPPIELLO Staff writer State Route 155 — a k a New Karner Road — may not be as aptly named as you might think. The four-mile-long thoroughfare — which cuts through the heart of the 2,700-plus-acre Pine Bush Preserve — disrupts the movement of Karner blue butterflies crossing the road to mate with others, according to a new study by the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission. Genetic variety is essential to sustain limited populations in fragmented habitats like Pine…

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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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Save the Pine Bush

The Army Corps of Engineers extended the comment period on their review of the wetlands that will be destroyed if the proposed landfill in the Pine Bush is constructed. Bert wrote an excellent letter outlining many of the problems of expanding the landfill. The deadline for comments was March 5 and the letter was sent to Heidi Firstencel, US Army Corps of Engineers, NY District: CENAN-OP-R, Upstate Regulatory Field Office, 1 Buffington Street, Blg 10, 3rd Fl, Watervliet, New York…

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Careful In The Pine Bush

To think that the 6,000-acre Capital Region ecological treasure known as the Pine Bush was once almost 10 times that size, before developers started making their way into what still qualifies as one of the premier examples of an inland pine barrens ecosystem anywhere in the world. Today the Pine Bush and all its wonder are just a bit smaller, at least in the eyes of the builder of a proposed hotel on Washington Avenue Extension. It’s almost as if…

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We Need the Environmental Access to Justice Act

ALBANY: With the loss of the Clifton Park case in the Appellate Division, Save the Pine Bush has had its ability to advocate for preservation of the Karner Blue severely restricted. If the current court rulings regarding standing had been in place in 1978 when Save the Pine Bush began, we never would have been able to get our foot in the court room door, and there would be no Pine Bush left today. What is standing and why is…

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Save the Pine Bush Goes to the Appellate Division Over Butterflies in Clifton Park

On February 15, oral argument was held in the appeal by Save the Pine Bush and 11 people who sued the Town of Clifton Park Planning Board in September 2006 after the board gave approval to seven industrial warehouses and hundreds of parking spaces adjacent to and in Karner blue butterfly habitat. The plaintiffs were all denied standing by Acting state Supreme Court Justice, Barry Kramer who granted the Town’s and developer’s motions to dismiss the case in November 2006….

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Court Room Door Slammed Shut on Save the Pine Bush

ALBANY: The New York State Court of Appeals has refused to hear Save the Pine Bush’s case regarding the proposed warehouses on Wood Road in Clifton Park. By not hearing our appeal, the Court of Appeals allows the lower court’s decision dismissing our case on standing to be the final ruling in the case, The court room is barred to Save the Pine Bush. We lost on “standing”, meaning Save the Pine Bush has no right to bring a case…

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The Pine Bush Makes the Grade Sierra Club Included the Pine Bush in America’s Wild Legacy 52 Places: A Sierra Club Report

The Pine Bush has been identified by the Sierra Club as one of the fifty-two most exceptional places in the United States that must be preserved. The report says the following: All across America, communities are working to protect our public lands from threats like oil and gas drilling, unchecked development, irresponsible recreation, logging, and global warming. In order to save what remains of our nation’s wild legacy, the Sierra Club has launched a campaign to protect fifty-two of our…

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Why Does the Discovery Center Look Like a Bank?

By Lynne Jackson ALBANY: The Pine Bush Discovery will have its grand opening on Saturday and Sunday, June 16 and June 17 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. After what seems like an eternity of planning, design and construction, the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission is pleased to invite the public to the grand opening. As the gateway to the Pine Bush, the Discovery Center introduces people to everything that makes the Preserve rare and adventurous with hands-on and interactive…

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Save the Pine Bush Barred from Court

by William Engleman SCHENECTADY: Save the Pine Bush is considering an appeal of a recent State Supreme Court ruling dismissing a lawsuit brought against the Town of Clifton Park Planning Board and DCG Development Co. Save the Pine Bush and 11 citizen-petitioners sued the Town of Clifton Park Planning Board over site plan approvals for a 142,000 square foot flexspace warehouse project on land along Wood Road in the Town’s northeast corner. In dismissing the case, a State Supreme Court…

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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

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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Save the Pine Bush

  All that sand was left by a glacial lake. The Pine Bush ecosystem sitting on that sand, however, may have been created by Native Americans practicing fire management techniques. At least, that’s what some people believe. One of those people is Dr. Harvey Alexander, professor at the College of St. Rose, who spoke at the Dec. 10 SPB dinner at the Unitarian Church in Albany. Doing some fast talking, he laid out the story of the formation of the…

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Save the Pine Bush

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…

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You Can Help Save the Pine Bush in The Town of Colonie

Below is a copy of the Final Scoping document for the proposed hotel adjacent to the Karner Blue Butterfly site. For more information about the project, please see the following: Crossgates Wants to Build a Hotel in the Pine Bush, Will they never go away? (Sept/Oct 04) Save the Pine Bush Sues Crossgates Maul and Asks the City to Deny Crossgates Hotel Proposal (Feb/Mar 04) Crossgates Casts a Dark Shadow Over the Pine Bush (Dec 03/Jan 04)   CITY OF…

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SPB Sues City & DEC Over Illegal Landfill in the Pine Bush

SPB Sues City & DEC Over Illegal Landfill in the Pine Bush SPB Sues City & DEC Over Illegal Landfill in the Pine Bush ALBANY, NY: Save the Pine Bush filed suit in July 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…

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Exploring Bus Service to the Pine Bush

Exploring Bus Service to the Pine Bush Exploring Bus Service to the Pine Bush by John Wolcott One can reach the Pine Bush from Albany by bus. However, it is, at one point, difficult and unsafe. At another point, it is awkward, and, as yet, uncertain. A couple of weeks ago, I tested part of the bus system in person. I took the Number 12 Crossgates bus to Wall-Mart on the Washington Avenue Extension. This is the nearest stop to…

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Legislation to Protect Pollinators

by Grace Nichols ALBANY, NY: Save the Pine Bush supports a move by Albany County Legislator Doug Bullock and Save the Pine Bush’s Grace Nichols to introduce to the Legislature a Pollinator-Friendly County Resolution. It would be the first time that the County stood with a class of organisms undergoing rapid extinctions globally. We, at Save the Pine Bush, hope the County of Albany passes the resolution as our small part to address a biological crisis, and also as an…

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Letters to the Editor of the Times Union

Compiled by Tim Truscott Letter: Pine Bush Preserve remains a folly To the editor, Sunday, September 2, 2018 The extension of the lifespan of the Rapp Road landfill is welcome news for Albany taxpayers. It’s unimaginable what the cost of getting rid of our waste will be when we have to close that landfill. I am surprised that a waste-to-energy facility has not been proposed or an end brought to this folly with the Pine Bush Preserve. Enough is enough…

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