From Canada to Georgia, behind every acre OSI protects, there are people. Each person has a connection to the land that has inspired them to protect it and their stories are as diverse as the landscapes they are dedicated to protecting.

Stories from the Field
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Behind the Scenes of the Greatest Legislative Conservation Victory in a Generation
The passage of the Great American Outdoors Act was heralded as one of our nation’s most significant conservation achievements in decades. In the middle of this great success story was Lesley Kane Szynal, who leads OSI's Outdoor America Campaign.
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Nurturing Nature in NYC
“Our garden’s largest impact is as a self-healing community. I have seen firsthand the transformational power of touching soil, and Kelly Street Garden helps us address the issues of our community while bringing people together." - Sheryll Durrant
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Catskill Conservation
Nine projects in 2019 safeguarding a critical water source and two impressive trail projects
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In South Carolina Five Years and Counting
“OSI understands the long-term conservation vision of South Carolina, and is effective in protecting threatened, ecologically significant places.” - State Senator Chip Campsen.
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Saving Chattanooga's Backyard
The Tennessee River Gorge is a geological wonder flanking a 26-mile stretch of Tennessee’s namesake river, where waters carved a path thousands of feet deep through the hard sandstone and limestone of the Cumberland Plateau.
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Tapping the Power of Land Protection
Five large-scale projects protects 37,000 acres and the benefits are immeasurable.
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Riverbank Rocks
"Since the center was renovated, we have hosted many more community performances." - Travis Berry
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Virginia Victory
Largest conservation project in Virginia in decades protects forestland and the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
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Planning for a Green Corridor
The Open Space Institute and local partners are joining forces to create a master plan that will identify new stakeholder partners across varied interests and sectors to develop a “green corridor” in the Palmertown Range,
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Five Years and a Transformation
For OSI, whose conservation work over the decades had added over 40,000 acres to the state’s 335,000-acre state park system, the prospect of parks closings prompted disbelief, then resolve
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Momentum for Minnewaska
A master trail builder, Kortright’s skills are invaluable to OSI’s reconstruction of the 19th-century carriage roads–just one of the many features that make New York’s Minnewaska State Park Preserve a recreational destination.
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A More Welcoming Garden
OSI provides support that helps a community garden come to life.
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Traversing Tennessee Trails
The Denny Cove project was one of three that OSI and partners projects completed in 2017 that expand South Cumberland State Park.
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Year-in-Review: 2019 Success Stories
As 2019 draws to a close, OSI is looking back at our conservation achievements this year. All told, OSI is on its way to protecting nearly 35,000 acres of land for clean water, clean air, and places to bike and hike.
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Year-in-Review 2019: Protecting Watersheds & Drinking Water
As 2019 draws to a close, OSI is reflecting back on a year of conservation successes. This year, in a trio of historic acquisitions, OSI helped protect the Everglades, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Delaware River – all by safeguarding natural lands.
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Year-in-Review 2019: Improving Parks and Increasing Access
As 2019 draws to a close, OSI is reflecting back on a year of conservation successes. This year, OSI added more than 8,500 acres to 10 New York State parks and forests.
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Year-in-Review 2019: Addressing Climate Change & Protecting Habitat
As 2019 draws to a close, OSI is looking back at our conservation achievements this year. OSI-protected lands removed three metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere this year.
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Year-in-Review 2019: Creating Strong Communities
As 2019 draws to a close, OSI is looking back at our conservation achievements this year. By strategically protecting land that benefits communities, OSI is helping to safeguard resources for future generations.
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Protecting Forests Ensuring Clean Water in the Delaware
OSI, with support from the William Penn Foundation, has an expansive initiative to support the long-tern health of the Delaware River.
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Finding Climate Solutions in the Land
Land conservation plays an important role in finding climate solutions.
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Connecting People to the Land
OSI's River-to-Ridge Trail connects New Paltz to Shawangunk Ridge
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The Open Space Institute Featured at New York Land Trust Alliance Conference
The Open Space Institute Featured at 2019 New York Land Trust Alliance Conference
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Green Design Drives OSI’s New River-to-Ridge Trail
Finding a balance between ecological, agricultural, and recreational use
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2018 SUCCESS STORIES
2018 The dramatic escarpment of the Shawangunk Ridge. The verdant forests of the Southern Cumberland Plateau. The paddling paradise of South Carolina’s Black River.
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2018 Success Stories: Protecting Land for Habitat
By protecting climate-resilient landscapes — defined as lands that will continue to be a haven for habitat, even as the climate changes — land trusts have a critical role to play in addressing climate change.
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2018 Success Stories: Improve and Expand Places to Play
Through our land conservation and support for parks, OSI is increasing access to nature, improving your visitor experience, and creating more places and opportunities for fun and healthy outdoors escapes.
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2018 Success Stories: Safeguarding our Drinking Water
Protecting unspoiled forests is among the most effective ways to conserve drinking water. OSI’s work safeguards drinking water for communities from South Carolina up the east coast to New England.
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2018 Success Stories: Creating Strong Communities
Saving farms and forests, OSI helps towns and communities achieve environmental and conservation goals. We make an impact with grants and awards to young leaders and students to increase diversity in the field.
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Planning for the New Normal
In Conway, South Carolina, community leaders turn to land protection, to help prepare for a future threatened by climate change.
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Conservation With a Local Touch
Citizen Action allows OSI to reach diverse audiences who are passionate about conservation. The program addresses a range of issues that are central to OSI’s mission, and leaves a positive and lasting mark at the community level.
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Fresh From Forests to Faucets
Today the Open Space Institute, the Water District, and other partners are working against time to save Sebago Lake’s forests – and to protect drinking water for roughly 200,000 people.
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Supporting a Park in the Heart of Manhattan
Thanks to OSI’s support of a local friends group, a park in the Inwood community of Manhattan is being cared for in order to build community, bring people closer to nature, and ensure access to green spaces in a densely populated city.
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Adding Adirondack Access
OSI is offering solutions that will better disperse eager explorers by securing additional acreage for public access in the Adirondacks.
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Study Links Land Protection and Climate Change Solutions
There is wide agreement that land conservation plays an important role in reducing harmful gases that cause climate change. The question is, how big a role?
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Trashy Ideas Transforming New York City
OSI Citizen Action Group, Talk Trash City, tackles climate change with innovation
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Welcoming Wilderness
For more than four decades, the Open Space Institute (OSI) has protected some of the most beautiful landscapes in the heart of New York’s Adirondacks – land that provides people with places to play and discover the wonders of nature.
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New Jersey Greenway Closer to Reality
“From expanding commuting options to providing safe greenspace to exercise and enjoy the outdoors, we are on the verge of something really wonderful.”
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OSI Brings Climate Science to Land Trusts in the South
Since 2014, nearly 100 land conservation organizations have integrated climate science into their land-protection decisions with support from OSI. The South Carolina nonprofit Upstate Forever is the latest OSI “climate change ambassador.”
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Kayak Conservation Promotes Clean Water in NYC
HarborLAB is an OSI Citizen Action group with an emphasis on “learning adventure boating.” It promotes environmental stewardship by providing free, water-based programming for children, underprivileged youth, and underrepresented community members.
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Going Green in Orange
OSI is protecting open space in a fast-growing community.
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Diversity in Conservation
Recognizing that the environmental movement is strengthened by different perspectives and voices, the Open Space Institute launched its Conservation Diversity Fellowship in 2016.
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OSI on the Trail in and around the Shawangunks
OSI is playing a big role in bringing the transformative power of trails to communities where we work.
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The Science of Watershed Planning
OSI's Delaware River Watershed Initiative Catalyst grants bring watershed science to bear on county and municipal planning to ensure scarce conservation dollars, effectively protecting water quality in the Delaware River Watershed.
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Cultivating Community Conservation
“Food justice is life-changing and active work; you have to actively participate in it to help bring about change,”
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A Forest For All
Saving a tradition in New England
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Progress on the Paulinskill
Dyaami D'Orazio, OSI's 2017 Conservation Fellow, traveled to Sussex County, NJ, to learn more about on-the-ground initiatives around forest and drinking water protection.
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Essential Ingredients
OSI’s preservation of natural lands is the key to water quality, and OSI-protected farmland is producing some of the best hops and barley in the country. The next time you raise a glass of your favorite local brew, offer a toast to conservation.
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One Mission, Two Partners, Three Landscapes
OSI's mission is to make lands more accessible to all ages. Working with our partner the Butler Conservation Fund, we highlight three landscapes that are now more available to young and old.
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South Carolina Conservation Soars
OSI working in South Carolina
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OSI Carries the Day
Using our experience in the Adirondacks, know-how, and taking quick action, OSI helps to resolve a long-standing land dispute.
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Places for People to Roam
Harvey Forest is one of eight climate-resilient properties totaling almost 12,000 acres that OSI helped safeguard through grants and loans in 2016, including five projects in Tennessee, one in Pennsylvania, and another in New Hampshire.
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Farms and Forests Forever
OSI’s Klipper Family Fund for the Champlain Valley is using land protection to grow the local economy while saving time-honored rural traditions.
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The Art of the Deal
How OSI created a serene park in the middle of a busy office complex in suburban Morris County, NJ.
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Trailblazing: River-to-Ridge Trail
When the Smiley Road reconstruction and the new trail completed, OSI envisions a unified trail network surrounding and crossing the Shawangunk Ridge that will total 116 miles in length.
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Food and Drink
OSI’s Bayshore Highlands Fund conserves farmland to protect drinking water in the Delaware Watershed. Research shows that wide buffers of natural vegetation along springs, streams and wetlands can filter out pollutants from farming.
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Living on the Land, South Carolina Style
More than a daily pleasure, the South Carolina landscape is a way of life. Between its quiet blackwater rivers, pristine coastal beaches, sunny longleaf pine savannas, and dramatic mountains, South Carolina provides many outdoor opportunities.
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Healthy Habitat for the Longleaf Pine
A recent Open Space Institute loan of $2.18 million to The Nature Conservancy and OSI's purchase of the Fairlawn tract, will secure more than 1,400 acres for longleaf restoration at the Talladega National Forest in Alabama.
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OSI Plays Matchmaker
OSI's Transborder Fund is doing what comes naturally.
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Letter from Kim Elliman
To our friends and partners in the Carolinas
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Year-in-Review: OSI’s 2020 Successes
In 2020, as the public flocked to the outdoors, OSI’s legacy of protecting millions of acres -- and improving access to many beloved parks and lands -- took on renewed meaning. People came home to the land, and the land was there to welcome us.
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Year-in-Review 2020: Protecting Watersheds and Drinking Water
By targeting key forests for conservation, in 2020 OSI kept its focus on protecting drinking water, the lifeblood of countless habitats and communities.
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Year-in-Review 2020: Improving Parks and Increasing Access
Before the end of 2020, OSI is anticipating the addition of almost 13,000 acres to state and national parks and forests in Georgia, South Carolina, and New York.
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Year-in-Review 2020: Addressing Climate Change & Protecting Habitat
In 2020, OSI-protected lands removed and estimated 1.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – equivalent to the annual emissions of more than 1.2 million cars.
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Year-in-Review 2020: Creating Strong Communities
This year, OSI’s environmental protection work touched communities across the east, both urban and rural — from New Paltz to the Bronx in New York; and from quiet Dillon County to the Charleston, SC region, just to name a few.
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