Otsego 2000 History and Impact

1981 Founded as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization named Friends of P.R.O.T.E.C.T.

1988 Renamed Otsego 2000.

1988 Founded the Otsego Land Trust, which is now an independent entity and valued partner of Otsego 2000.

1991 Founded the Cooperstown Farmers’ Market to introduce local farmers and their goods to residents and visitors and to bring shoppers back to Main Street. The Market strengthens the local agricultural sector while providing access to fresh, local food and artisanal goods, and serves as an important community gathering place. 

1995 Spearheaded the creation of the Glimmerglass Coalition, a partnership of local, state and national environmental groups, to protect the unique environmental and historic quality of Otsego Lake.

1995 Advocated for the listing of the 9,200-acre Lindesay Patent Rural Historic District (Cherry Valley) on both the State and National Registers of Historic Places, one of the first large-scale cultural landscapes listed in New York State.

1998 Led the effort to establish the 12,000-acre Glimmerglass Heritage National Historic District, placing the Otsego Lake viewshed made famous in James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

1999 Established the Otsego and Schoharie Counties Historic Preservation Awards Program.

2005 Spearheaded the designation of Route 20 and a section of the Old Cherry Valley Turnpike as a New York State Scenic Byway, opening up communities along the 108-mile section to heritage tourism opportunities as well as state and federal grants.

2007 Opposed the proposed Jordanville Wind Power Program, which would have sited wind turbines near the historic Russian Orthodox Holy Trinity Monastery and infringed on the Glimmerglass National Historic District. The New York State Superior Court found the project to be illegally approved and blocked it as presented.

2008 Established the Henry S. F. Cooper, Jr. Fund for Environmental Defense to ensure that Otsego 2000 would be financially prepared to confront significant threats to the region as soon as they arise.

2008-11 Worked to put the Russian Orthodox Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville on the Preservation League’s 2008 “Seven to Save” list. In 2011, the Monastery was listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

2008 Began a major campaign to educate state and local leaders as well as citizens about the adverse and irreversible impacts of natural gas hydraulic fracturing. The action went on for six years through the court of public opinion, local home rule laws, and the state court system. We organized citizens, politicians, professors, students, doctors, economists, lawyers, and ex-oil industry executives to work for the cause.

2010 Forged a partnership with the Cooperstown Food Pantry to offer their clients vouchers to the Cooperstown Farmers’ Market to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables.

2011 Began offering workshops and technical assistance to historic district property owners so they could benefit from the Historic Preservation Homeowners Tax Credit Assistance program.

2012 Succeeded in getting the Historic and Cultural Resources of the NYS Marcellus and Utica Shale Regions named to the Preservation League’s “Seven to Save” list of endangered historic properties.

2013 Premiered Glimmerglass Film Days, created to present independent films about humanity’s interaction with the natural world and to raise awareness of important environmental issues of our times. The film festival also brings residents and visitors to local restaurants, hotels, shops, and cultural attractions.

2014 Heralded the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation decision to prohibit high-volume hydraulic fracturing in New York State, a major success for the people of New York six years in the making.

2015 Partnered with the Otsego Land Trust and the Otsego County Conservation Association to create Otsego Outdoors, a program to promote publicly accessible hiking, paddling, cross-country skiing, and cycling routes in Otsego County.

2018 Established the Cooper Circle to recognize donors who demonstrate selfless stewardship of our region by donating $1,000 or more annually to Otsego 2000.

2019 Began the Lions Club SNAP Match program at the Cooperstown Farmers’ Market to provide access to fresh and healthy food for more residents and local families.

2020 Introduced Curbside Cooperstown Farmers’ Market, an online shopping option so customers could continue to shop from their favorite vendors during the COVID pandemic, and critically, to ensure Market vendors continued access to their customers.  

2020 Celebrated as the 2014 ban on fracking was codified into New York State law.

2021 Launched the Otsego Outdoors Winter Octet Challenge, to encourage people to hike, snowshoe, and cross-country ski in Otsego County.

2022 Marked the Tenth anniversary of Glimmerglass Film Days, November 10-14.

2024 Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Glimmerglass Historic District