This past week, the Open Space Institute (OSI) transferred a 93-acre parcel of land that is both scenically stunning and ecologically rich to the Town of Marbletown. Located on Atwood Road, within walking distance of the town’s Main Street, the Osterhoudt Flats property features meadowlands, forests and an old farming road that will become the site of a proposed two-mile multiuse community trail.
According to Marbletown supervisor Rich Parete, the parcel was given the highest score under the Town’s Community Preservation Plan because of its proximity to Main Street, its sweeping views of the Shawangunk Ridge to one side and the Catskill Mountains to the other. The property also has rich agricultural soil, sits atop a large aquifer, has 47 acres of forest behind the open field, which is considered a wildlife habitat, and abuts another 40 acres of forest on an adjoining property, creating an important wildlife corridor.
“Preserving the Osterhoudt Flats protects a sizable property in the heart of Stone Ridge with great accessibility to the town for recreational use, as well as maintaining the Town’s scenic gateway and environmental resources,” said the supervisor. The parcel can be directly accessed for hiking, running, walking, cycling, birdwatching, skiing and horseback riding from the center of town.
The parcel was purchased by OSI from the conservation-minded landowners, Claude and Holly Osterhoudt, for $1.1 million in 2023 with funds from the organization’s internal endowment, the Lila and Acheson Wallace Fund. The acquisition was then held by the land preservation organization until Marbletown was able to leverage its Community Preservation Fund, in combination with a $500,000 grant from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to purchase the property from OSI: the first-ever use of the fund.
Bob Anderberg, OSI’s vice president and senior counsel, said, “We thoroughly agree with the assessment reached by the Town of Marbletown’s Community Preservation Plan: that the Osterhoudt Flats property is the highest-priority acquisition for the community. The farm is a remarkably scenic open field near the middle of Stone Ridge with impressive views; protects an important local aquifer; and will be ideal for recreational use by the residents of the Town and Ulster County.” Anderberg went on to note that in his estimation, the Osterhoudt Flats property also fits in well with the town’s ambitious plan to create interconnected recreational trails throughout the town, “potentially connecting the O&W Rail Trail, Ulster County Community College, Main Street and other places.”
According to Supervisor Parete, the town will hold an informational meeting on the proposed uses of the property, “finalize plans and hopefully start Phase One in the spring.” Parete said that he believes “this property will get a lot of use. We are going to build trails, a fishing pond, sleighriding hill, skate pond, birdwatching, picnic area and more.”
This is not the first parcel that OSI, Marbletown and the Osterhoudt family have worked together to preserve. The Osterhoudt Flats property mirrors another OSI project in Marbletown that was protected by the Open Space Institute in 2009. The Osterhoudt beef farm, another 90-plus-acre piece of land, located a mile or two north on Route 213, is another scenic and pastoral property that is protected in perpetuity by a conservation easement. The farm, according to Anderberg, “has not significantly changed since the Osterhoudts started farming it in the 18th century. As one drives west and north along Route 213 from the center of Stone Ridge to Olive, these two preserved properties are a reminder of the rich agricultural heritage of the Town of Marbletown.”
Claude and Holly Osterhoudt are members of a multigenerational farming family who have devoted their lives to local agriculture. Anderberg said that OSI and the town were grateful that “Claude and Holly shared the town’s and OSI’s vision for open space,” adding that they were “an absolute joy to work with.”
Parete noted that, in addition to the rich agricultural history of the recently acquired parcel, it is also historically significant for other reasons. He said that there is an African American burial ground located adjacent to the property that is in need of preservation, as well as a “separate section of the Winchell Cemetery on Route 213,” which also has local historical significance that dates back to the Civil War.
When asked what OSI’s hope was for the future of this property now that it was in the hands of the municipality, Anderberg said, “OSI very much supports the Town of Marbletown’s plans for the property. For years we have envisioned this property as a Town-owned preserve, which will protect an important agricultural and scenic resource, but also allow for passive recreational use and become a peaceful oasis where the community can gather.”
Many people intimate with the parcel and the plans for it to have multiuse trails that are free and open to the public compare it to the über-popular River-to-Ridge Trail in New Paltz, which was developed by OSI in 2016. The 5.5-mile trail can be accessed from Main Street in downtown New Paltz or directly from the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, where it winds through the farmlands and foothills that lie between the Village of New Paltz and the Shawangunk Ridge. According to Anderberg, “The River-to-Ridge preserve and the scenic trail have turned out to be enormously popular with outdoor enthusiasts, with up to 200,000 visitors each year.”
It’s OSI’s hope that the Osterhoudt Flats property can play a similar role: being used on a regular basis as a community gathering spot and a hub for interconnected trails, as well as remaining environmentally protected and maintaining the scenic views that attract so many people to Stone Ridge.
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