Program areas at OSI
Land protection: smart, strategic Land conservation strengthens communities, ensures access to drinking water resources, provides recreational resources, curbs climate change, and protects habitats. Working throughout the eastern united states, with project concentrations in new york, new jersey, south carolina, and Georgia, osi acquires Land of ecological, recreational, and climate protection significance with the goal of conveying it to public agencies and conservation partners as permanent additions to publicly accessible lands. In 2022, osilt protected 8.517 acres of Land having a fair market value of $30.8 million.
Parks and policy: osi is making nature and the outdoors more welcoming and enjoyable to all. Through park improvements, the creation of new trails and greenways public policy research, and advocacy for greater federal, state, and national investments in public lands, osi works to improve accessibility and access to Open Space, promote community wellbeing, and create the next generation of conservationists. Osi also provides support services for the newly formed parks improvement group new city parks, which aims to bring urban parks to neighborhoods.
Conservation capital: guided by science, with a focus on climate change, water protection, forests, and wildlife habitat, osilt works with foundations to design and administer capital re-grant programs, directing capital and low-cost loans to accelerate the rate and effectiveness of conservation. Osilt also offers catalyst grants to localities and their conservation partners to incorporate strategic Land protection into local planning efforts. In 2022, osilt made 23 capital grants totaling $3,443,564, protecting 21,336 acres in seven states with a fair market value of $28,858,336. Further, osilt directly approved ten grants for conservation planning totaling $126,279.
Stewardship: through its stewardship work, osi monitors and enforces conservation easements, oversees the management of properties conserved with third-party partners, and provides interim management for properties that will be conveyed to public agencies or other conservation partners.