Open Space Institute and Woodstock Land Conservancy Announce Acquisitions to Launch Campaign to Protect Overlook Mountain
New York NY and Woodstock NY, December 8th, 2003 ---This morning, the Open Space Institute and the Woodstock Land Conservancy jointly launched a major capital campaign by announcing the acquisition of 291 acres on the upper reaches of the town’s most cherished landmark, Overlook Mountain. After years of careful planning and quiet negotiating with landowners, the Conservancy and OSI have joined forces for this $1 million campaign, with OSI making a capital commitment of over $650,000.
“This is a very exciting moment, for the Woodstock Land Conservancy, for the town of Woodstock, for Open Space Institute, and for people from all over the region and country – even the world – who come here to hike, to paint, to draw inspiration from this majestic mountain,” said Michael DeWan, president of the Board of Directors of the Conservancy.
Considered by many to be the birthplace of the Hudson River School of painting in the 19th century, Overlook Mountain has long enjoyed a prominent place in America’s natural and cultural history. Thanks to efforts begun many years ago, most of the summit has been incorporated into the Catskill Forest Preserve and is protected as “forever wild” by the New York State Constitution. More recently, local conservationists – including the Woodstock Land Conservancy - have attempted to keep the summit free of television and cellular telephone towers. In its 2002 Open Space Conservation Plan, New York State DEC placed much of the privately-owned land at the highest elevations of Overlook Mountain on its “Priority List” for acquisition. Both partners intend that every purchase of this land will ultimately be added to the 590-acre Overlook Mountain Wild Forest within the Preserve, and protected in perpetuity as forever wild.
As the most recognizable landmass on the eastern escarpment of the Catskill Range, Overlook Mountain provides a stunning visual backdrop to the town of Woodstock, and can be seen from many points in the Mid-Hudson River Valley. It also provides critical wildlife habitat: in November 2002, a study identified two denning sites in the Catskills for the Timber Rattlesnake, listed as threatened in New York. One of those sites is near Overlook’s summit, all the more reason to keep it free of roads and structures.
In addition to launching this joint effort, these acquisitions today signal the beginning of OSI’s new Catskills Land Protection Program. While the program is new, the Catskills is familiar territory for OSI. The organization’s land conservation program first began in the Catskills in the 1970s. Today, OSI holds close to 150 conservation easements in the Catskills, ensuring the perpetual protection of more than 7,000 acres.
“This Catskills program was born out of serious concern about the latest wave of development pressure in the Catskills, where more and more second home buyers are seeking refuge from stressful city life,” said Joe Martens, president of the Open Space Institute. “Open Space Institute and the Woodstock Land Conservancy are keenly aware of the intensifying pressure to develop in the Catskills, particularly on Overlook Mountain. We look forward to a partnership with the Conservancy that gains community-wide support for land protection on Overlook Mountain and throughout the Catskills. In fact,” added Martens, “ knowing that Overlook is such an important visual landmark throughout the Hudson Valley, we welcome the support of people on both sides of the River, on all sides of this magnificent peak.”
To kick off the Overlook Campaign, two prominent landowners on Overlook have joined forces with the Conservancy and OSI. Miriam Berg conveyed almost 90 acres on the upper reaches of the mountain, and the Woodstock Guild of Artists and Craftsmen has transferred over 200 acres stretching from Meads Meadow northeast toward the summit. “I bought this land in 1972, planning someday to put in a winding road up the side of the mountain and a house with a fabulous view at the top,” recalls Berg, one of the local leaders of this campaign. “Now, 31 years later, I realize I cannot in good conscience be part of its desecration. I would rather help to keep a piece of the mountain forever wild.”
“OSI was drawn to the protection of Overlook Mountain in part because it is such a beloved Catskill landscape, and in part because of the dedicated community that is Woodstock,” said Jennifer Grossman, OSI’s Vice President for Land Acquisition. “It is only through partnerships such as the one we’ve created with WLC that these ambitious conservation goals can be accomplished in the face of sprawl.”
“Fifteen years ago, in an amazing outpouring of generosity and community spirit, over 550 Woodstockers came together and saved another town landmark, the Zena Cornfield. Today, the pressure to develop is even more intense, and the threat is just as immediate – and even more visible,” DeWan went on to say. “From the westernmost of the three peaks of Mount Guardian to the very summit of Overlook, high-altitude building has scarred these once-pristine ridgelines that help define our sense of place.
“For years we have been laying the groundwork, and now with OSI as our partner we can take this huge step to make a huge difference for future generations. But time is not on our side. In the coming months we will be planning a number of events, and the Conservancy is about to send out a town-wide appeal in early December.” DeWan concluded, “We are counting on support just as enthusiastic and broad-based as we got to save the Zena Cornfield. ”
The Open Space Institute (www.osiny.org.) is a nonprofit land conservancy that protects significant recreational, environmental, agricultural and historic landscapes. Chartered under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, OSI works throughout New York State, with an emphasis on the Hudson River Valley from the Adirondacks to Westchester and Rockland Counties. Since its formation in the early 1963, OSI has protected over 90,000 acres in New York State for public recreation, access to the Hudson River, wildlife habitat protection, historic preservation and general open space conservation. Through its Northern Forest Protection Fund, OSI has assisted in the protection of close to 1,000,000 acres in NY, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. OSI recently launched its New Jersey Conservation Loan Program to protect threatened landscapes in the nation’s most densely populated state.
The Woodstock Land Conservancy (www.woodstocklandconservancy.org) is a nonprofit land trust, also chartered under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, whose mission is to work with private property owners to preserve those natural areas most beloved by the greater Woodstock community. Its Executive Director Dale Hughes can be reached by phone at 845-679-5604 and 845-586-2232, and by e-mail at dhughes@catskill.net. The president of the Board of Directors Michael DeWan can be reached by phone at 845-679-6994 and by e-mail at michaeld@hvc.rr.com.