Open Space Institute

The future of conservation, environmental stewardship, and community leadership is so bright we’ve gotta wear shades! 😎

OSI is proud to announce the seven recipients of its 2026 Barnabas McHenry Hudson River Valley Awards, which support exceptional students who partner with local nonprofits to complete projects that advance conservation and community engagement across the Hudson Valley.

This year’s students will tackle issues ranging from soil health and carbon storage to environmental justice, historic preservation, arts-based tourism, and watershed education, each demonstrating deep creativity, passion, and dedication.

We’re also thrilled to celebrate a major milestone: thanks to the generosity of our supporters, the McHenry Awards endowment has reached $1 million. This achievement ensures that OSI will continue to support the innovative ideas of young leaders for years to come.

Congratulations to the 2026 McHenry Award recipients:: Henry Blezard from Skidmore College, John Cross from Emory University, Elizabeth Frost from Columbia University, Maia Jarrett from Bard College, Carolann Paszek from SUNY New Paltz, Ikechukwu Sharpe from SUNY New Paltz and Stael Toussaint from Bard College.

We can't wait to see the wonderful things you accomplish!

Hudson Highlands Land Trust Preservation League of New York State The Fullerton The Kingston Land Trust

Forests, wetlands, and open spaces play critical roles in protecting communities from flooding, drought, and extreme weather. We’re proud to welcome Mentone, AL, and Fort Oglethorpe and Dade County, GA, to the Resilient Communities program, which OSI co-leads with Thrive Regional Partnership to advance nature-based solutions to environmental challenges across communities in the Southeast.

Learn more about the newest group of Resilient Communities participants and how OSI and Thrive are empowering towns and cities across the Southeast to use the power of nature to prepare for and respond to severe weather: https://www.openspaceinstitute.org/news/resilient-communities-3

Open Space Institute, Thrive Regional Partnership Select Three New Communities for Program That Advances Nature-Based Solutions for Flooding, Heat, and Drought Mentone, AL; Fort Oglethorpe, GA; and Dade County, GA join the Resilient Communities program in its third cycle

OSI’s May enews is here — and it’s full of stories that show conservation in action across landscapes people and wildlife depend on.

This month’s edition highlights OSI’s celebration of Barney McHenry at the annual Conservation & Cocktails event, the groundbreaking of a new Adirondack trailhead, the addition of three new municipalities for OSI’s Resilient Communities program, and more.

Whether you’re following our latest land protection victories or simply learning how your support makes our impact possible, our May enews is a great place to start.

Take a few minutes to read our latest: https://bit.ly/4o0kFDz

With breathtaking mountain views through quiet forests, New York’s Adirondack Rail Trail (ART) has quickly become one of the Northeast’s most popular outdoor destinations. The trail connects Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, and Tupper Lake across 34 unforgettable miles.

This week, OSI, in partnership with the Village of Lake Placid and the The Adirondack Rail Trail Association, gathered to break ground on the new Lake Placid Trailhead, a welcoming eastern gateway to the ART designed to improve year-round trail access for residents and visitors.

The new trailhead will feature picnic areas, parking, four-season restrooms, EV charging stations, bicycle amenities, accessible pathways, and so much more.

Even better: the work is expected to be completed before the end of this year.

This project builds on OSI’s decades of work in the Adirondacks — where we have helped protect nearly 60,000 acres and continue to create and enhance the ways people can experience this extraordinary landscape.

Mark your calendars for National Trails Day on June 6!

For decades, OSI has worked to create and improve the beloved recreational trails that help more people and communities connect to the outdoors.

Over the past few months, OSI has completed several trail projects across the Northeast, including the opening of South Carolina’s first-ever riverine network along 70 miles of the Black River, unveiling the new Schunnemunk Meadows Trail at Schunnemunk State Park, NY, the purchase of more than seven miles of trail in Ohio, the completion of significant improvements to the Upper Works Trail in NY’s Adirondacks, securing public access to a section of the Pennsylvania’s Tuscarora Trail, and so much more!

This year, OSI is continuing our momentum by investing in multiple trail improvement projects at NY’s Minnewaska State Park Preserve and Harriman State Park and the Sutton Creek Waterfall Trail in North Carolina, with additional projects in the works.

See you outside on June 6th!

We’re celebrating a huge improvement for the future Heritage Hill Park in Orange County, NY! Last week, OSI and engineering cadets from West Point - The U.S. Military Academy, held a ribbon-cutting to unveil a new pedestrian bridge.

Over the past year, the cadets designed and rebuilt a stream crossing. The project provided the cadets with hands-on design and construction experience toward their Civil Engineering degrees, while also enhancing park amenities for public use and enjoyment.

This project marks the 10th bridge completed thanks to OSI’s longstanding partnership with West Point, with previous bridges completed at Harriman, Fahnestock, and Schunnemunk State Parks.

Congratulations to the graduating cadets, and thank you to the West Point instructors, Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus, the Orange County Department of Parks staff, and all whose support made this project possible.

Photos by Steve Aaron

🌎Happy International Day for Biological Diversity! 🌎

Today, we’re excited to talk about the Appalachian Mountain Region! Stretching from Maine to Alabama, the Appalachians are one of North America’s great biodiversity strongholds. A living network of forests, rivers, wetlands, ridgelines, and valleys, the region supports countless species, currently stores 20 percent of the nation’s forest carbon, serves as the nation’s longest north-south intact migration corridor, and so much more.

Through OSI’s Appalachian Landscapes Project (ALP), we’re working with partners across the 18-state Appalachian ecoregion to protect this irreplaceable landscape from forest loss and fragmentation. Earlier this year, OSI kicked off its ALP by awarding nearly $4 million in capital grants to 20 organizations for projects that will collectively save 105,000 acres throughout the Appalachian Mountain Region.

Learn more about our work to help accelerate conservation across the Appalachians:

Open Space Institute Launches Major Initiative to Accelerate Conservation Across 18-State Appalachian Region; Awards $4M to Save 105K Acres in First Grant Round Appalachian Landscapes Project aims to prevent forest loss, protect wildlife corridors, and buffer communities from flooding and climate threats

🌸🐝Happy World Bee Day! 🐝🌸

Today we’re celebrating the pollinators that help keep landscapes blooming!

At OSI, we protect meadows, forests, farms, wetlands, and connected habitats that bees and other wildlife need to flourish—like the wildflower fields of OSI’s River-to-Ridge Trail in New Paltz, NY.

Here’s to the bees — and to the protected landscapes that help keep them buzzing.



Photo Credits: Adam Deen for bee photo; Greg Miller Photography for the photos of children at the River-to-Ridge Trail wildflower meadows.