The forests, farmlands, wetlands, and other open space in the Mid-Hudson Valley are critical environmental and economic resources for the entire New York metropolitan region. In this era of climate change, these natural systems’ ability to cool the region and absorb storm and flood water are making them increasingly valuable. Yet the burden of protecting these lands is disproportionately borne by local communities that lose tax revenues when these properties are taken off the tax rolls.

This tension, driven in part by an undervaluing of both the local and regional benefits of open space, undermines efforts to preserve these vital natural resources. This study was designed to bridge local and regional interests by determining the direct and indirect environmental, economic, quality-of-life, and other benefits protected open space and open space-oriented nonprofit organizations and land trusts provide to surrounding communities in the Mid-Hudson Valley. Additionally, the study attempts to determine the impact of tax exemptions related to open space on communities.