The Open Space Institute, Inc. is a nonprofit land conservation organization that works to permanently protect from development landscapes of significant environmental, historical and agricultural value. Through its Northern Forest Protection Fund, formed in 2000, OSI has assisted in the protection of close to 600,000 acres in NY, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. OSI recently launched its New Jersey Conservation Loan Fund to protect threatened landscapes in the nation's most densely populated state. OSI also provides support to small community groups in New York's Hudson River Valley through its Citizen Action Program.