Albany Pine Bush

Albany Pine Bush Preserve
State forest, private preserve
Pines in the preserve
Name origin: Dominance of landscape by pines and shrub oak
Country	United States
State	New York
Region	Capital District
County	Albany
City	Albany
Location	Visitor center
- elevation	320 ft (98 m)
- coordinates	42°43′6″N 73°51′52″W / 42.71833°N 73.86444°W / 42.71833; -73.86444Coordinates: 42°43′6″N 73°51′52″W / 42.71833°N 73.86444°W / 42.71833; -73.86444
Highest point	600 ft (200 m) S of visitors' center
- elevation	360 ft (110 m)
- coordinates	42°42′57″N 73°51′52″W / 42.71583°N 73.86444°W / 42.71583; -73.86444
Lowest point	Rensselaer Lake
- elevation	259 ft (79 m)
- coordinates	42°41′50″N 73°49′56″W / 42.69722°N 73.83222°W / 42.69722; -73.83222
Area	5 sq mi (13 km2)
Biome	Pine barrens
Founded	1988
Management	New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
For public	yes
Easiest access	Visitors' center, Rensselaer Lake
IUCN category	Ib - Wilderness Area
Location of the Albany Pine Bush in the U.S. state of New York
Website: Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission

The Albany Pine Bush, referred to locally as the Pine Bush, is one of the largest of the 20 inland pine barrens in the world. It is centrally located in New York's Capital District within Albany and Schenectady counties, between the cities of Albany and Schenectady. The Albany Pine Bush was formed thousands of years ago, following the drainage of Glacial Lake Albany.

The Albany Pine Bush is the sole remaining undeveloped portion of a pine barrens that once covered over 40 square miles (100 km²),  and is "one of the best remaining examples of an inland pine barrens ecosystem in the world." By 2008 it included all parcels of the Albany Pine Bush Preserve (a state nature preserve spanning 3,200 acres (1,300 ha)), the properties that connect these protected parcels, and some of the surrounding areas that abut the preserve. The 135-acre (55 ha) Woodlawn Preserve and surrounding areas in Schenectady County are the western sections of the Pine Bush; they are separated geographically by other properties from the Albany Pine Bush Preserve in Albany County.

The Pine Bush has been a historical, cultural, and environmental asset to the Capital District and Hudson Valley regions of New York. Pioneers moving west passed through the pine barrens, which later was crossed by the first passenger railroad in the United States. The Pine Bush is home to the Karner blue butterfly, an endangered species first identified by author Vladimir Nabokov in 1944 using a type specimen from the Pine Bush.

Around 10,000 years ago Native Americans moved into the Pine Bush area. When Europeans arrived in the early 17th century, two groups lived in the immediate area: the Mohawk nation of the Iroquois to the west along the Mohawk River, and the Mahican to the east, along the Hudson River. The Dutch traded with both native groups from their outpost at Fort Orange (present-day Albany), which was established in 1624. For the natives the Pine Bush was an important source of firewood and animal pelts to trade with the Dutch. By 1640 the natives were having trouble finding enough animals in the Pine Bush to supply the growing European demand. The Mohawk referred to the settlement at Fort Orange as skahnéhtati, meaning "beyond the pine plains," referring to the large area of the Pine Bush between the Hudson and Mohawk rivers.