Our farmland protection program is helping Randy Brooks start his own dairy farm.

Keeping Working Farms Working in Rondout Valley

The transfer of 45 acres of the former Misner Farm in Marbletown to Frank and Cyndi Brooks marks the latest success in our longstanding campaign to protect working farms in the Rondout Valley (Ulster County). Frank and Cyndi's son Randy, who announced that he will be launching a new dairy operation on the property, credited the valley's farmland and open space preservation efforts with "making it possible for a young person like myself to start a farm. We would be out of business in 10 years if it weren't for the acres preserved in the area. Development would price us out." More...

Online Photo Contest Taking Off

"Linear Hudson" by Art Gunther of Blauvelt (Rockland County) is one of over 700 submissions to our online photo competition.

Competition is heating up in Scenic Hudson's online photo contest. To date over 700 images that celebrate the beauty of the Hudson River Valley have been uploaded into our six online galleries. There's still plenty of time to submit your best shots -- the deadline for entries is monday, June 30. Everyone who submits a photo will get an invitation to our special "River Champion Photo Workshop" on Saturday, June 7, along with a chance to win camera equipment from Artcraft Camera & Digital of Kingston, New Paltz and Poughkeepsie.

The NYS budget includes $1.5 million for completion of the Scenic Hudson park at Long Dock Beacon (photo: Robert Rodriguez, Jr.)

GOOD NEWS FROM ALBANY: State Budget Funds Crucial Hudson Valley Environmental Initiatives

Despite an increasingly tight spending climate, Gov. David Paterson and New York State lawmakers supported many of the valley's most important programs in the recently adopted state budget. Most notably, the Enviromental Protection Fund (EPF) was increased by $5 million to a total of $255 million. Large portions of the EPF will be directed to programs that benefit the Hudson Valley -- where pressures from sprawl and poorly planned development are greatest. More...

Can you identify which Scenic Hudson Park Reed Sparling is visiting this month? Visit this page to find out.

Congratulations to Tom Rupolo of Brooklyn for correctly identifying last month's "Where in the Valley is Reed Sparling" photo as being at Four-Mile Point Preserve in Coxsackie (Greene County). See this page for additional details.

For May we have a new challenge. Once again, the first person to respond correctly will win an autographed copy of Reed's new book, Hudson Valley Voyage: Through the Seasons, Through the Years. Happy guessing!

May and June Events

Check our calendar of events for a complete list of great ways to enjoy the Hudson Valley's beauty in spring.

Spring Birding Series
Date: Wednesday, May 14, 7:30 a.m.
Location: RamsHorn-Livingston Sanctuary (Catskill)
Learn and practice basic birding techniques with Audubon New York Educator Larry Federman on the trails of the Hudson River's largest tidal swamp forest.
More ...

Morning Ranger Hike
Date: Thursday, May 15, 10 a.m.
Location: Madam Brett Park (Beacon)
Join a Scenic Hudson ranger for an easy (one mile) fact-filled walk along Fishkill Creek to the Hudson's shore, with possible eagle sightings.
More ...

Hooked on Fishing #1
Date: Sunday, May 18, 9 a.m.
Location: Esopus Meadows (Esopus)
Join a veteran angler for a morning of demonstrations, lessons and a chance to reel in your own prize catch. More ...

Hooked on Fishing #2
Date: Tuesday, June 3, 6:30 p.m.
Location: Long Dock Beacon (Beacon)
Our veteran angler comes back for an evening of demonstrations, lessons and a chance to reel in your own prize catch. More ...

National Trails Day "Work 'n' Ride"
Date: Saturday, June 7, 10 a.m.
Location: Shaupeneak Ridge (Esopus)
Join us for a two-hour work party to celebrate National Trails Day, followed by a short but rugged three-mile, out-and-back mountain bike ride on the park's orange trail. More ...

6th Annual "Day at the Foundry" Tours
Date: Saturday and Sunday, June 14 & 15, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Location: West Point Foundry Preserve (Cold Spring)
Join Scenic Hudson and archaeologists from Michigan Tech for our annual open house weekend featuring tours of the historic preserve and a chance to see the "digs-in-progress." RSVP for Saturday or Sunday.

Your donation will help us continue to preserve the health and beauty of the Hudson River Valley before it's too late. (photo: Robert Rodriguez, Jr.)