The Rensselaer County Land Trust acquired a 54 acre parcel of wetland in Nassau from the National Audubon Society, according to a Friday announcement from the organization. With the acquisition of the Pine Swamp property, the trust now controls seven preserves and a total of 846 acres in Rensselaer County.

The land, off Lyons Lake Road, is part of the Pine Swamp, an area containing deep emergent marsh and red-maple-hardwood swamp, in relatively undisturbed condition. Such habitat is rare in the county, as are the flora and fauna it maintains. The red-headed woodpecker and the Virginia rail have been spotted in the area, and poison sumac and greater duckweed have been reported, according to RLT.

As a nature preserve, the property is off limits to development, but will be be open for environmental studies and natural history outings.