OLIVE, N.Y. — A state appeals court decision Thursday cleared the way for the Open Space Institute to transfer about 300 acres offering spectacular views of the Ashokan Reservoir and Shawangunk Mountains to the Catskill Forest Preserve.
The decision handed down by the state Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, found that the Open Space Institute (OSI), a nonprofit land trust, is the sole owner of a disputed 15-acre parcel within the larger tract.
The court upheld a lower court’s decision in favor of the Open Space Institute Land Trust, Inc. (OSI) which will now transfer the property to the state, Institute spokesperson Siobhan Gallagher Kent said Friday.
The 15-acre parcel and a larger 317.8-acre parcel are in Olive. The 317.8-acre parcel was acquired by the Open Space Institute in 2019 from Golden Woodlands LLC with plans to incorporate it into the Catskill Forest Preserve.
The property, which is adjacent to the Sundown Wild Forest, is one of two properties — totalling 915 acres — that provide “commanding views of the Shawangunk Ridge, Ashokan High Point, Little High Point, and the Ashokan Reservoir … (with) the potential to serve as an eastern access point to the Ashokan High Point hiking trail and its soaring 3,000-foot elevation, as well as other local peaks,” according to a July 2025 OSI press release.
Reached by phone, Gallagher Kent, said OSI first obtained the land in 2019 and will now transfer it to the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). “We actually transferred the majority of the land to the state DEC already, so basically the (appellate court) decision clears the way for us to do the final transfers of the property to DEC so that all of the land can be added” to the state’s wild forest land, which the DEC manages, she said.
She said the property offers “gorgeous views of the Gunks. So it’s just beautiful, beautiful, beautiful property.”
A decision handed down on May 14, 2026, by the state Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, cleared the way for the Open Space Institute to transfer this property to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, Institute spokesperson Siobhan Gallagher Kent said. (Open Space Institute /Greg Miller)
According to the decision, the trust filed for a “quiet title” to resolve an ownership gap. The legal move followed concerns from state Attorney General Leticia James regarding a break in the property’s chain of title dating back 142 years.
While a 2019 deed gave the trust ownership of the land, records from 1884 suggested a previous owner may have retained a 15-acre portion for their heirs, the decision states.
OSI identified 53 potential descendants of the original owners. Of those, 25 agreed they had no claim to the land, and 27 “defaulted,” the court said.
Appellant David Grant of Florida was the only individual to contest the trust’s ownership, claiming a property interest based on “family Bible records.”
The five-judge panel unanimously found that Grant failed to provide evidence of a legal interest in the property. Research presented by the trust showed that Grant was a step-relative of the original owners, rather than a direct descendant, meaning he had no legal right to inherit the land under state law, the court said.
Writing for the court, Justice Elizabeth A. Clark said Grant’s mother had already signed a legal agreement stating she had no interest in the property. Because Grant could not provide documentary proof to contradict the trust’s findings, the court ruled that OSI owns the property.
The decision allows the Open Space Institute to proceed with its plan to convey the total 300-acre tract to the state of New York for preservation as a state forest.
According to the institute’s website, it was founded in 1974 and is a “national conservation leader, partnering in the protection of more than 2.5 million acres across the Eastern U.S.”
The Open Space Institute website states that, “In addition to strategic conservation, (the Institute) is also committed to making protected land more welcoming to the public; making the outdoors more accessible for all; and, promoting science-based conservation among fellow land trusts and government leaders” and advocates “for public policies that promote innovative and effective land protection, including securing full and permanent funding for the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.”
The Olive parcel “has the potential to serve as an eastern access point to the Ashokan High Point hiking trail and its soaring 3,000-foot elevation, as well as other local peaks,” OSI has said.
In a 2019 press release, OSI said, “the parcels add to the system of contiguous conserved lands in the region and intact.” The Institute said that “protected forests” store and absorb carbon. “A greater amount of carbon is retained in the soil and trees when the land is largely undisturbed,” the Institute said.
Grant represented himself as a pro se appellant.