Good fact to know: Our Pine Bush is one of just 20 inland pine barrens in the world. Dr.Fiero and his students at Farnsworth Middle School in Guilderland are in the news again. Students raised $409.75 from bake sales and bottle drives to benefit the Karner Blues. The next school project is to raise Karner … News from Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission
VILLAGE OF COLONIE: On May 3, Save the Pine Bush members met to discuss the next steps in fighting against the proposed landfill expansion in the Pine Bush and for a rational solid waste police. Village of Colonie Mayor Frank Leak graciously opened the Village of Colonie Family Recreation Center for our meeting. Mayor Leak … Stop the Landfill Expansion — Get Involved!
By BRIAN NEARING, Staff Writer ALBANY – The city of Albany is among the state’s dozen worst polluters for its plans to expand the Rapp Road dump into the Pine Bush, according to a statewide environmental group’s annual listing released Tuesday. Citizens’ Environmental Coalition also cited the General Electric Co. for alleged foot-dragging over the … The Dump Expansion is for Who?
ALBANY: Acting State Supreme Court Judge Thomas J. McNamara denied a motion filed by the developers of the proposed hotel in the Pine Bush in the case Save the Pine Bush vs. City of Albany to re-argue the case. The Court said “Conspicuous by its absence is any discussion of other animal life on the … Win on Hotel Case Upheld by Supreme Court
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 … News from Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission
by Lynne Jackson CLIFTON PARK: On June 26, the Town of Clifton Park approved an extension to the site plan on Wood Road, circumventing the State Environmental Quality Review Act and allowing DCG to build a warehouse complex on an inhabited Karner Blue butterfly site. William Engleman, the intrepid volunteer in the Clifton Park, found … Town of Clifton Park Ignores Pleas for Butterflies
By Lynne Jackson Honest Weight Food Co-op will host a local foods picnic, free and open to the public, from 11 am-2 pm in Washington Park at the Lake House in Albany. Speakers and musical performers include David Yarrow, Hakim Steward, Fred Braglia, Bryan Thomas, and many other local community members who are making a … Proposed Landfill Expansion a Collision of Factors
Monarch Butterfly Conservation Crisis Monarch Butterfly Conservation Crisis On September 12, 2000, The New York Times published an urgent warning by noted Monarch butterfly expert Dr. Lincoln P. Brower, and other scientists and conservationists, describing a crisis situation at the Monarch butterfly’s overwintering grounds in central Mexico (The New York Times, Science Times, p. 1). … Monarch Butterfly Conservation Crisis
by Lynne Jackson ALBANY: Jack Lauber spoke at the February, 2006 vegetarian/vegan lasagna dinner at the First Presbyterian Church in Albany about the safety and feasibility of waste-to-energy. Mr. Lauber is an environmental engineer, who used to work at the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. He is very proud of the many incinerators he has … Waste-to-Energy One Solution to the Garbage Issue
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 … Petition Filed With State Dec Seeks Ruling On 1994 Protection Agreement For Karner Blue In Clifton Park
by William Engleman In 2005, Save the Pine Bush spoke out on land use affecting populations and habitats of the endangered Karner blue butterfly in the Town of Clifton Park. In early January ‘05, less than a month after a building moratorium was enacted in the Town’s light industrial zone, speakers from Save the Pine … Massive Empire Zone in Clifton Park’s Wood Road Corridor Set for Review
ALBANY: In an astounding series of votes, the Albany Common Council voted to allow two developments in the Pine Bush to go forward: the proposed Residence Inn Hotel and an office complex in front of the Daughters of Sarah Nursing Home. Three Common Council members voted against the proposals and for the Pine Bush: the … Common Council Ignores Pine Bush Preserve Commission
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 … Save the Pine Bush Barred from Court
War On Crossgates – The Community Fights Back War On Crossgates The Community Fights Back By Daniel Van Riper The evil and rapacious Pyramid Corporation, through a combination of trickery and deception, has geared up for an unprecedented Crossgates Maul expansion plan designed to suck the life and livelihood out of the citizens of the … 9
ALBANY: The Planning, Economic Development and Land Use Committee of the Albany Common Council met on October 27 to review the Final Environmental Impact Statement of the proposed Residence Inn hotel in the Pine Bush on Washington Avenue Extension. During the meeting, it became apparent that an essential letter from the US Fish and Wildlife … Environmental Report Omits Essential Letter
Cases of Lyme disease might be reduced by switching the focus from people and vaccinating the animals that carry it, a new study suggests. Writing in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers described an experiment in which they caught white-footed mice in a wooded area of roughly 3,000 acres in Connecticut, vaccinated … Taking Lyme Fight to the Field
by John Wolcott Click on map to see larger image Now: you can see it at a glance. The top topo map displayed here, is of the Karner Dune Field, the Type Locality of the Karner Blue Butterfy, in the Pine Bush, as it was way before Rte. 155 appeared. A unified field, fully connected … Blues Connection
ALBANY: Shawn Morris, candidate for Common Council President spoke at the July Save the Pine Bush dinner at the First Presbyterian Church. Four candidates are running in the Democratic Primary for Common Council President; all were invited to speak, but only Shawn Morris attended the dinner. Shawn began by describing the Common Council President’s roll … Shawn Morris Speaks to Save the Pine Bush
It’s no mystery why, every few years, Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings keeps wanting to expand the capacity of the Rapp Road landfill. The city continues to reap a bonanza there—more than $13 million a year— by selling space to neighboring towns and private haulers. But the specter of layoffs and a large tax hike if … Don’t allow expansion of Albany landfill
by Tom Ellis For more than 10 years, the city of Albany has attempted to site a large regional solid waste landfill in the town of Coeymans. The dump would be located about a mile south of where the Berkshire Spur section of the New York State Thruway connects to I-87. Trash would come from … Albany Pine Bush Nature Cache: Participation Encourages Public Land Stewardship
Touhey’s Obsession And Other News Touhey’s Obsession And Other News By Daniel Van Riper 300 Washington Ave. Extension! Again! Charlie Touhey is having legislation introduced into the City of Albany Common Council, probably to be sponsored by 15th Ward Alderman Nick Collucio, to rezone that piece of land next to the Dunes development. Charlie seems … Touhey’s Obsession And Other News
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. … Crossgates Wants to Build a Hotel in the Pine Bush
by Chris Kielb and Tom Ellis Rensselaer and East Greenbush residents and their allies (Rensselaer Environmental Coalition, REC) continue to organize to block the proposed Bio HiTech municipal solid waste processing facility on the former BASF industrial site, south of Columbia Turnpike. The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) sent now-departed Rensselaer Mayor Moody a … Updates on the trash problems in Rensselaer
Over $25,000 in grants support public education and outreach and Federal and private funding allows dramatic increase in habitat restoration. Contractors removed invasive black locust trees from 25 acres and 21 acres were planted with native grasses and wildflowers including wild blue lupine. The project was assisted by the Commission’s new John Deere tractor and … Ward Stone Speaks about the Most Important Environmental Problems of Our Time
by Rezsin Adams ALBANY: The April vegetarian lasagna dinner at the First Presbyterian Church was the location for our annual round-up of the state of the environment. Speakers from five organizations told us what was happening: Judy Enck, Attorney-General Eliot Spitzer’s Office. The Attorney-General has initiated numerous court cases to save the Clean Air Act from … The Environmental Picture of the Capital District
by ROB STEIN Washington Post WASHINGTON — People who live in neighborhoods where they must drive to get anywhere are significantly more likely to be obese than those who can easily walk to their destinations, according to the first study to directly demonstrate that long-suspected link. The study of nearly 11,000 people in the Atlanta … Clear-cutting
by John Wolcott Guilderland just enacted six-month moratorium on development in the western part of town. The Town of Colonie is considering a moratorium in certain segments of town. As both Guilderland and Colonie contain Pine Bush, one would have expected the Pine Bush to have been included in the moratoriums as both town supervisors … Moratoriums
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 … Charette a Charade
Winter Programs: Saturday, February 14: 8:30am-10:30am: Tracking Wildlife with Dr. Roland Kays & Carl Herzog. Meet Madison Avenue Pinelands Trailhead #7. Friday, February 27: 6:30pm-8:00pm. Owl Prowl. Bring a flashlight. Meet Great Dune, Trailhead #8 (end of Willow Street). March 26-28: Capital District Garden & Flower Show at HVCC. For more information: 785-1800 x100. News … From the newsletter of the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission
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 … Woodlawn and the Western Pine Bush — Next Steps
Guilderland, NY: A speculator has proposed to sub-divide 7.9 acres of Pine Bush in the full protection area between the New York State Thruway and Lydius Street. The proposal is currently before the Guilderland Planning Board. Last January, Mr. Coles, a real estate appraiser, proposed sub-dividing the property into four lots. There is already one … Speak Out for Pine Bush Preservation
ALBANY, NY: The August Save the Pine Bush vegetarian/vegan lasagna dinner was the setting for Mike Venuti, the new director of the Pine Bush Discovery Center, to describe what the Pine Bush Discovery Center will be and the progress on the Discovery Center. Mr. Venuti began by briefly describing his background. He has worked with … Discovery Center
by Rezsin Adams ALBANY, NY: Helen Desfosses, President of the Albany City Council, and professor at the University at Albany in Public Administration, spoke about SEMETECH at Save the Pine Bush’s July vegetarian/vegan lasagna dinner. The University at Albany is the new home of SEMETECH North. This is a very important development for the University … SEMETECH North Is Now at The State University at Albany
by Lynne Jackson ALBANY: Dr. George Robinson gave an excellent succinct speech about landfill reclamation at the January Save the Pine Bush dinner at the First Presbyterian Church. Dr. Robinson, an associate professor of biology at the University of Albany, started by talking about the history of landfills. He mentioned many historic buildings, such as … Integrating the Landfill into the Pine Bush or What do you do with a Landfill?
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 … Crossword Puzzle
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 … Does Sprawl Promote Lyme Disease?
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 … Crossgates is a Bad Neighbor
by Don Allard If you take your dog(s) for walks in the Pine Bush, you should be aware of the real danger of your pet possibly contracting Lyme disease. If your dog is bitten by the deer tick (much smaller than a regular dog tick) and the tick is fully engorged for between 24 and … Lyme Disease Warning for Pets and their Humans
ALBANY, NY: Eight o’clock AM on a bitter cold December morning saw a dozen Save the Pine Bush volunteers demonstrating over the destruction of the Pine Bush for the building of Avila House. Avila House is proposed to be built in the rare Pine Bush ecosystem. The protesters, with signs and a lot of warm … Volunteers Protest Construction of Avila House
by Lynne Jackson ALBANY, NY: Dr. George Robinson shared his adventures studying and speculations about the mysterious Patroon Creek, Albany’s only remaining above-ground creek at the November SPB lasagna dinner at the First Presbyterian Church. The Patroon Creek begins in Lake Rensselaer, which is in the Pine Bush. The creek is fed by water filtered … The Patroon Creek and the Pine Bush
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 … The Pine Bush and Bombs Part II
In our last newsletter, I wrote a short piece in which I mistakenly said that William Shakespeare, in Julius Caesar, 1599, wrote the following: “Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, … The Pine Bush and Bombs — A Correction
by Lynne Jackson ALBANY, NY: The September Save the Pine Bush dinner at the First Presbyterian Church was the setting for a presentation on alien and invasive by Steve Rice, PhD. of Union college. Dr. Rice began by talking about the early efforts to bring fire back into the Pine Bush ecosystem. The thought was … Invasive Species in the Pine Bush
Save the Pine Bush owes a big thank you to organizers and volunteers for our October Gargage Sale. Thanks to Elaine Doremous for organizing the event, Sandra Camp for working, and Candace Lider for offering her garage. We raised $375! Thank you to all!
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 … Open Space Plan Released – – The Pine Bush is Top Priority in Region 4
ALBANY: Neil Gifford, Conservation Director of the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission, gave a powerpoint presentation to the attendees of the September vegetarian lasagna dinner at the First Presbyterian Church on the new 2002 Pine Bush Management Plan. State Law requires the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission (the Commission) to review its management plan every … New Plan for the Preserve – – 2002 Management Plan Revealed
It is estimated that a war in Iraq would cost at least $100 billion. War in Iraq would cause tremendous human suffering, as well as take resources away from programs at home, such as buying land for preservation. A peaceful solution to the problems in Iraq is in everyone’s interest. “Beware the leader who bangs … The Pine Bush and Bombs
by John Wolcott This year is the three hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the chartering of the community of Albany as the village of Beverwyck. With this in mind, let us quote a reference to the Pine Bush from the records of Beverwyck, January 7, 1753: “The Honorable Abraham Staets having requested that the description … Early Reference to the Pine Bush Discovered in the Dutch Records of Beverwyck
ALBANY: In its pursuit of the proposed landfill expansion, the City of Albany is working on the Environmental review process required under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. The initial part of this process is preparation of scoping document to determine what topics should be included in this review. A public meeting was held at … The Dump Expansion is for Who?
by Lynne Jackson ALBANY: Albany City Commission of the Department of General Services Willard (Bill) Bruce spoke at the May Save the Pine Bush dinner. Mr. Bruce began by showing slides of how landfills are constructed. He emphasized that the Rapp Road landfill is not just a dump, it is a highly-engineered structure and there … Its not a Garbage Problem Its an Economic Problem