| | | Minnewaska Made More Magnificent
A signature feature of one of New York’s most stunning outdoor destinations just got a major upgrade thanks to the Open Space Institute (OSI). Backed by key partners and supporters, OSI completed a $1.3 million restoration of the three-mile-long Lake Awosting Carriage Road. Completed just in time for visitors to experience the beauty of fall foliage in the Hudson Valley, the project marks OSI’s restoration of nearly 20 miles of historic carriage roads at Minnewaska since 2014. The project, supported by a $500,000 New York State Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) grant, gives visitors a safe, gently graded loop path around Lake Awosting, the northern Shawangunk’s largest sky lake and one of the park’s most stunning destinations. OSI’s effort at the beloved park—which is located only 90 minutes from Manhattan and welcomes nearly 600,000 visitors annually—is its newest success in a long history of protecting land and expanding recreational access at Minnewaska and along the Shawangunk Ridge. |
|
|---|
| | | | Saving the Last Wild South Carolinian Oceanfront Property
It’s South Carolina’s largest remaining undeveloped oceanfront property, and OSI is working to keep it that way. OSI has formed a partnership with Ducks Unlimited (DU) and state agencies to save Arcadia East, a remarkable landscape in Georgetown County encompassing roughly 3,400 acres of Atlantic shoreline, wetlands, maritime forest, and pine flatwoods habitat. Pending state approvals, OSI and DU expect to jointly acquire the property this winter, preserving rare coastal ecosystems and strengthening a network of protected lands. |
|
|---|
| | | | A Community Rallies to Protect a Defining Property
A cherished New Paltz viewshed is now protected forever. Following OSI’s acquisition of the 174-acre Humpo Marsh property earlier this year, the parcel has been transferred to the Mohonk Preserve for permanent ownership, with the Wallkill Valley Land Trust holding a conservation easement over part of the property. The effort marked the Town of New Paltz’s first major use of its Community Preservation Fund, which allows municipalities to steer conservation efforts most important to residents.
|
|
|---|
| | | | OSI Makes the Case for Forests
During Climate Week, OSI welcomed partners and supporters for a conversation about one of the most powerful climate solutions: preventing forest loss. Across the eastern United States, OSI is combining its signature, ambitious land protection with science, data, and partnerships to protect forests and their irreplaceable benefits. From conserving carbon-rich forests to equipping on-the-ground groups with data to act strategically, OSI is helping put forests at the center of climate action. |
|
|---|
| | | | A Landmark Return of Ancestral Land in Maine
For the first time in more than two centuries, the Penobscot Nation will again steward a vast stretch of its ancestral homeland near Katahdin Mountain. With support from OSI’s Appalachian Landscapes Project, the first phase of this ambitious effort conserved an area the size of Portland, Maine, safeguarding land and waters with both deep cultural significance and environmental importance. |
|
|---|
| | | | OSI Shares Expertise at Rally 2026
From protecting forests for climate benefits to guiding land trusts in using mapping technology to maximize their impact, OSI brought the best of its expertise to the Land Trust Alliance’s annual national conference in Denver, Colorado. OSI’s staff led standout workshops to share resources and knowledge with practitioners from around the country. Each year, OSI’s Rally workshops inspire and advance action to help groups meet the evolving role of conservation in protecting land for people, wildlife, clean air and water, and communities. |
|
|---|
| | | | Welcoming OSI's New Conservation Fellow
Meet Qais Stovall, the newest emerging leader to join OSI! A recent Columbia University graduate with a degree in environmental biology, Qais will spend two years learning the ins and outs of conservation, from land protection and park development to science and mapping. This marks the tenth year of OSI’s Conservation Fellowship program, which gives young professionals wide-ranging experience in every facet of OSI’s work as they begin their careers. |
|
|---|
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
