People’s Choice Award When the votes from viewers were tallied at the close of the Pine Bush Perspectives: A Juried Photo Exhibit, the winner of the People’s Choice award went to “Morning Glory” taken by Elise Josee Nigro.
The exhibit is sponsored by the Friends of the Pine Bush Community.
Get involved…
Volunteer Naturalists In 2017, we had a total of 13 active Volunteer Naturalists. These volunteers hiked in the preserve, greeted visitors, and submitted their observations, contributing a combined 159 volunteer hours. They collectively encountered more than 700 visitors, and greeted or had conversations with 63% of those. The Volunteer Naturalists made other contributions, including submitting photographs that have been used in programs and advertising, alerting the Stewardship staff to trail obstructions, encouraging visitors to follow the preserve rules, and enriching the experiences of visitors by answering questions and sharing knowledge.
Interested in becoming a Volunteer Naturalist? Check out the job description here.
Join a Capital Region community that protects the unique habitat of the Albany Pine Bush Preserve.
We help people enjoy this special place and seize opportunities to participate in local learning, scientific research, and stewardship in the preserve.
MARCH 22, 2018 at 7PM Would you like to find out more about the 3,300 acre preserve that you live next to? We’d like to meet our neighbors and hear your questions, ideas and thoughts on any aspect of living next door to us. Enjoy a cup of coffee and chat with our staff during this quarterly hour-long gathering. Go to AlbanyPineBush.org/events to RSVP or call 518-456-0666.
TRIVIA NIGHT March 27, 6:30pm How well do you know the Albany Pine Bush? Come test your knowledge at our first-ever Pine Bush Trivia Night! Join us for fun, food and some friendly competition. Light refreshments will be provided. Adults only.
Explore with us during the school break! APRIL 2 -7 We’re offering fun and exciting programs each day of the school break. Featuring exploration into the worlds of the turtle, fox and woodcock. Check out the program list on our events calendar and save yourself a spot!
Our new program booklets are in! Stop by the Discovery Center to pick up our catalog of programs through June 2018. They can also be found at the Albany Visitors Center and local libraries.
For more information about our classrooms, trails and other programs visit the Albany Pine Bush Discovery Center at 195 New Karner Road in Albany or call 518-456-0655.
Happening on the ground…
Trail closures and restoration work Madison Ave. Pinelands, with access at trailhead #7, has seen lots of management activity over the past three years as forest thinning has opened the landscape and transformed several hundred acres back to a pine barrens. The final 35 acres of thinning will be completed late winter and early spring 2018, requiring closure of trailhead #7 and the associated trails, for several additional months. Preserve visitors are asked to avoid this area during this time and enjoy many of the other 20 miles of official Preserve trails.
Seed cleaning As in years past, Stewardship staff have partnered with The US Department of Agriculture plant materials center in Big Flats, NY to clean seed previously collected from the preserve. Bushclover, Horsemint, Goat’s Rue, and Showy Tick Trefoil were all cleaned on specialized equipment at the facility. Wild Blue Lupine seed is cleaned for us by Saratoga Tree Nursery. All seed collected during 2017 will be finished in time for planting this coming spring!
Meet the Team…
Dr. Steven Campbell Conservation Biologist What do you do at the Pine Bush? As the conservation biologist, I am primarily responsible for designing studies to understand the effects of management on the preserve’s plant and animal communities, managing and analyzing the data collected, and documenting the results as reports and peer-reviewed scientific papers. I also help with the fieldwork of many of our ongoing bird studies (e.g., point counts and bird banding).
Igniting Exchange: Bridging the Gap between Science and Management Our staff attended the first joint meeting of the Northeast Forest Fire Compact and the North Atlantic Fire Science Exchange, in January. The event was designed to expose fire managers to useful scientific studies and expose scientists to the implications of the science. It provided a unique opportunity for regional state wildland fire protection agencies, including the NYSDEC and the US Forest Service, to network and learn alongside wildland fire managers and fire scientists. Our fire and science programs were well represented. Information learned there will help us better manage the preserve’s fire-dependent ecological communities and improve fire-fighter safety.
Our latest research…
Citizen Science: American Woodcock Survey Training The American Woodcock is one of the first birds back to the Albany Pine Bush in the spring, and it starts singing and displaying just as quickly. Unfortunately, this intriguing species has also been declining in number since the 1960s. For this reason, the American Woodcock is a species of interest in the preserve and one the Commission would like to monitor, but we need your help! Join us this evening to learn how you can become a Citizen Scientist and help us monitor American Woodcock in the preserve. Ages 15+. Free! Registration is required.
Science Lecture Series: Wildlife Management in New York and Sub-Saharan Africa: Wildlife, People and Culture In the autumn of 2015, Michael Matthews went to Africa with his spouse, Fulbright Scholar Dr. Dorothy Matthews. They were posted in Botswana for nine months and during that time visited five other countries: Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. While there, Matthews presented a paper on wildlife management in the United States, at the Botswana Biodiversity Symposium at the Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Join us this evening for a presentation comparing and contrasting the wildlife management techniques of New York and Africa. Join us for snacks and discussion at 6:30pm, the lecture will begin at 7:00pm. Ages 15+. Free! Registration is required.
