Open Space Institute
Description
The Open Space Institute is a national conservation organization that protects land across the eastern United States.
It protects land for clean drinking water, public recreation, healthy communities, wildlife habitat and climate resilience. It works through direct land acquisition, conservation easements, and regional loan and grant programs that fund other land trusts and public agencies. It improves parks and trails, including converting former rail lines into greenways, and it fiscally sponsors grassroots conservation groups by providing them financial and legal oversight. It also conducts research and advocates for public policies that support land protection, including funding for the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Founded in 1974, OSI has partnered in protecting more than 2.5 million acres, mainly in New York and other states including Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and New Jersey.
Latest news
OSI Supports Continued Protection of New Jersey’s Paulins Kill Watershed
Protection of 95-acre property safeguards groundwater resources and strengthens forest conservation, habitat connectivity, and future reforestation…
22 Sep 2026
Acquisition will create new public recreational access at a former Boy Scout campground and protect high-carbon forests.
15 Sep 2026
Landmark Effort Announced to Save South Carolina’s Last Largescale Undeveloped Oceanfront Landscape
At OSI, we protect land for people, for habitat, forever.
9 Sep 2026
Project delivers wins for public recreation and wildlife habitat in major conservation focus area
2 Sep 2026
OSI Supports 550-Acre Expansion of Tennessee’s Head of the Crow State Park
Project protects the headwaters of Crow Creek and habitat for rare species on South Cumberland Plateau, a wildlife hotspot
27 Aug 2026
Open Space Institute Protects Nearly 600 Acres to Expand South Carolina's Kings Mountain State Park
At OSI, we protect land for people, for habitat, forever.
26 Aug 2026
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