Description

Pine Swamp Preserve in the Town of Nassau protects 54 acres within an extensive swamp and marsh complex on the south side of Smith Pond. There is little high ground on the preserve where someone can stand and stay dry.

Pine Swamp is a mosaic of diverse wetland types, primarily deep emergent marsh and red maple-hardwood swamp, in relatively undisturbed condition. The Preserve contains significant wildlife habitat and supports unusual plant species for Rensselaer County. Red-headed woodpecker, a rare bird in New York, and Virginia rail, rare in Rensselaer County, have been reported from Pine Swamp. Among the plants found there are poison sumac and greater duckweed, both uncommon in Rensselaer County.

Pine Swamp Preserve was donated to the Rensselaer Land Trust by the National Audubon Society in 2012.

Because access involves crossing private property of adjoining neighbors, and because of the ecological sensitivity of the habitats and the lack of dry land, access to Pine Swamp Preserve is restricted to educational and scientific purposes, and visitors must obtain prior permission from the Land Trust.

Directions

Because access involves crossing private property of adjoining neighbors, and because of the ecological sensitivity of the habitats and the lack of dry land, access to Pine Swamp Preserve is restricted, and visitors must obtain prior permission from the Land Trust.