Woodlawn Preserve

The Woodlawn Preserve is the only patch of the Albany Pine Bush in the city of Schenectady, New York's Woodlawn neighborhood; it is home to some of the most biologically diverse parcels in Schenectady County due to the combination of swamp, wetlands, water bodies, and dune vegetation.DescriptionThe low-lying areas of the preserve are wetlands while the higher portions are pitch pine-scrub oak barrens with some of the largest sand dunes found in the Albany Pine Bush. While the preserve has traditionally been a Karner Blue butterfly habitat, there are no current populations of the endangered species there. The preserve and neighboring lands in the town of Niskayuna are part of the Woodlawn Pine Barrens-Wetlands Complex, which is recognized by the state of New York's Open Space Conservation Plan as a priority conservation project.HistoryThe preserve was created by the city in 1969 as 135acre of forever wild land, and is home to the headwaters of the Lisha Kill and numerous rare plants. It is the largest passive park in the city of Schenectady.