Story Map: Saving the Shawangunks (2020)

In each of the places where the Open Space Institute works, land plays host to unique habitats, human histories, and geologies.

Now, the story of OSI’s conservation on the Shawangunk Ridge comes alive in a new, online multimedia Story Map, viewable here. OSI harnesses the power of maps, film, drone photography, narratives, and imagery, to capture the breathtaking beauty and life-changing impact of one of our signature landscapes.

Every year more than 700,000 visitors come to enjoy the Ridge, a 47-mile-long wonderland of windswept cliffs, rock talus fields, and secluded ravines in southeastern New York. For more than four decades, OSI has led the way in protecting this iconic landform, along the way doubling the size of its popular park preserve, Minnewaska.

Today, OSI is again spearheading another groundbreaking effort to protect the region — this time to raising private dollars to support the design, and working with the state on the construction, of a new Minnewaska Visitor Center.

“Saving the Shawangunks” is a follow-up to OSI’s award-winning, 2018 “Saving the Southern Cumberlands” Story Map. Please note that each Story Map is best viewed with a high-speed connection.