Our Story
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OBI is an all-volunteer land trust that was founded in 1993 by a small group of community members who wanted to take a hands-on approach to preserving our region's rural and scenic character. We work with landowners and conservation partners to preserve and protect our ecological assets, such as coastal areas, woodlands, farmlands and open spaces. This is often accomplished through conservation easements, whereby a landowner maintains ownership of property but turns over development rights to a conservation group to ensure the property will be protected from development, or it may place restrictions on development.
OBI is a 501-C-3 non-profit organization that is qualified to accept easements. There are also other options for landowners, including land donations and voluntary stewardship programs. To date, OBI has preserved more than 450 acres for future generations. This includes an easement on a rare and ecologically sensitive alvar region. |
Our Guiding Principles
Actively searching for opportunity and working with partners and land owners to preserve land and open space for the overall benefit of our community Educating our community on those benefits, and the value of land conservation, as well as informing on the special ecological aspects of our service area. With various partners, developing fun and informative events, outdoors and in, to accomplish the above principles. |
Our land trust is in a scenic part of northern New York state, known as "the north country" where agriculture and tourism are an important part of our way of life.
It has a rural heritage that makes it a special place to live and has forests, farmlands, streams, rivers, wetlands and shorelines that provide a diversity of wildlife and plant species. Yet Jefferson County in recent years has become one of the fastest growing counties in the state, making the role of conservation groups such as OBI even more important as open spaces, especially coastal areas, may be threatened by development pressure and suburban sprawl.
By informing the public about the importance of careful planning for future development, emphasizing the need for preservation of sensitive natural areas and assisting landowners in conservation efforts, OBI is working to preserve the unique character of our area for generations to come.
It has a rural heritage that makes it a special place to live and has forests, farmlands, streams, rivers, wetlands and shorelines that provide a diversity of wildlife and plant species. Yet Jefferson County in recent years has become one of the fastest growing counties in the state, making the role of conservation groups such as OBI even more important as open spaces, especially coastal areas, may be threatened by development pressure and suburban sprawl.
By informing the public about the importance of careful planning for future development, emphasizing the need for preservation of sensitive natural areas and assisting landowners in conservation efforts, OBI is working to preserve the unique character of our area for generations to come.
