Threats to the Ridge Actions that should be taken to save the Ridge About the Shawangunk Ridge Coalition Media coverage about the Shawangunk Ridge Learn more about the environment of the Shawangunk Ridge Conservation efforts on the Shawangunk Ridge Recreation on the Shawangunk Ridge Maps of the Shawangunk Ridge Links to supporters and affiliated sites Search this site for information Contact information for the Shawangunk Ridge Coalition Return to our home page

Minnewaska State Park expanded
Poughkeepsie Journal
March 14, 2006

GARDINER … New York state opened a 2,518-acre expansion of Minnewaska State Park Preserve Tuesday, ending a four-year episode that sparked the Save the Ridge campaign against the largest private land owner on the Shawangunk Ridge.

In 2002, John Atwater Bradley partnered with investors and a developer to build a golf course and 350 homes on the scenic Awosting Reserve. Their relationship soured, and ended up in court, leaving a court-appointed arbiter to determine the fate of the land.

The conservation groups Open Space Institute and the Trust for Public Land bought the Awosting Reserve property for $17 million late last year, beating out a bid from movie star and Gardiner resident Robert De Niro.

The groups re-sold the land to New York, which bought the addition to Minnewaska with money from its Environmental Protection Fund.