Annual Report

Perhaps more than anything, the last year has highlighted the importance of community — and we are so thankful that you have been a part of ours.

Community is what grounds all of our work across the Hudson Valley. From protecting the cultural landscapes and working farms that define and nourish this beautiful region, to championing clean air and water for today’s families and future generations, it shapes our priorities and inspires us to achieve them.

We see the power of community in the smiles of young people wading into a Kingston creek to learn about the critters that live in their waterways.

We see it in the dedicated volunteers who help harvest and hand out free produce —nearly 5,000 pounds to date — at Pershing Community Farm in Poughkeepsie.

And we see it in the faces of people taking in the unparalleled beauty of the Hudson Valley at the 45+ parks we helped create across the region.

Working with this incredible community, committed partners, and generous donors, Scenic Hudson has accomplished so much. Over the past year, we’ve:

• protected more than 2,400 acres of land, including the Columbia County historic home and gardens of Edna St. Vincent Millay, the first female poet to win the Pulitzer Prize;
• expanded the popular Black Creek Preserve in Ulster County, including a spacious riverfront pavilion and additional parking to connect more people with nature;
• transformed an abandoned factory and brownfield into inspiring, sun-powered offices and spaces for Scenic Hudson staff and the Poughkeepsie community at the new Northside Hub;
• advanced a local goal for more than two decades by conserving the first piece of a planned greenway along Quassaick Creek; and
• shaped major victories in Albany and at the ballot box, including a funding boost for regenerative farming and voter passage of New York’s first urban Community Preservation Fund in Kingston.

But our work is far from done. We have an ambitious agenda for next year and your support is critical to making it happen.

Community was at the center of our origin story and more than 60 years later it will keep moving us forward. Join us as we continue to work for a beautiful and healthy Hudson Valley.