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34-702: Rockefeller State Park Preserve is a state park in Mount Pleasant, New York in the eastern foothills of the Hudson River in Westchester County . Common activities in the park include horse-riding, walking, jogging, running, bird-watching, and fishing. The park has a rich history and was donated to the State of New York over time by the Rockefeller family beginning in 1983. A section of

68-526: A land lease from the U.S. government , while Mackinac National Park was handed down to become the first of the Michigan state parks . As with national parks, facilities at state parks are often leased to concessionaires to operate. Breaks Interstate Park is operated under an interstate compact by Virginia state parks , although it is also one of the Kentucky state parks , straddling both sides of

102-476: A "laissez-faire attitude...but after a 1974 New York Times series by Seymour Hersh revealed that the CIA had conducted "massive" illegal spying activities against American antiwar protesters and dissidents, Congress and the executive branch convulsed into action." Three separate bodies just described were created to further this investigation. The report was suppressed from the start but was leaked by Daniel Schorr to

136-592: A Federal National Monument. Robert David Lion Gardiner , one of the co-owners, complained that the proposal to expropriate his family's property was unfair, when the Rockefellers had been allowed to continue to own the Pocantico Hills. The land has been used as part of the park since the 1970s, when Laurance Rockefeller leased the estate to New York for use as a park. State park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at

170-589: A few exceptions such as Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California, and Wood-Tikchik State Park in Alaska, the largest state park in the United States . In addition to preserving natural landscapes and providing recreational opportunities, many state parks also serve as important educational resources . They often offer guided tours, interpretive programs, and exhibits that help visitors learn about

204-911: A few months. Its successor was the Pike Committee, officially called the Select Committee on Intelligence which revealed more secret dealings of the US government. This was around the same time as the United States President's Commission on CIA activities within the United States, commonly called the Rockefeller Commission . The American Prospect gives some background, noting that prior to these investigations, "the U.S. intelligence community had never undergone significant congressional scrutiny" because of

238-699: A restaurant) for lodging at some parks. These typically use "Resort" in the name, such as "_____ Resort State Park" in West Virginia state parks and "_____ State Resort Park" in neighboring Kentucky state parks , which has 17 such resort parks, the most of any state. Other states use the Resort name inconsistently (like DeGray Lake Resort State Park , the only one out of three resorts in Arkansas state parks ), or have only one such park ( South Carolina state parks ' Hickory Knob State Resort Park ), or do not use

272-580: Is known for its wildlife, carriage trails, and scenic vistas. The park's 55 miles (89 km) of carriage roads allow visitors to view the various habitats of the 1,771-acre (7.17 km) park, which include open meadows, dense forest, meandering brooks, wetlands, and the 24-acre (97,000 m) Swan Lake. Rockefeller State Park Preserve abuts the Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park and Sleepy Hollow Cemetery . The preserve also abuts extensive private land owned by

306-550: Is located within walking distance of the preserve. The pigs from Stone Barns often forage in the woods of the preserve. Cattle also graze the preserve's land. Raven Rock, a large outcrop in the southeaster corner of the Preserve, is mentioned in Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow as being "[haunted by a woman in white who] was often heard to shriek on winter nights before a storm, having perished there in

340-660: The Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales . The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa, and Belgium, is provincial park . Similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies. State parks are thus similar to national parks , but under state rather than federal administration. Similarly, local government entities below state level may maintain parks, e.g., regional parks or county parks . In general, state parks are smaller than national parks, with

374-692: The Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration . Otis Pike Otis Grey Pike (August 31, 1921 – January 20, 2014) was an American lawyer and politician who served nine terms as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from New York , from 1961 to 1979. Pike was born in Riverhead, New York . He served in the United States Marine Corps in

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408-579: The Rockefeller family which is open to the public. The trails in the private area, still in use by the Rockefeller family and also open to the public, connect with those in the state park. Many of these trails were planned and laid out by John D. Rockefeller (Sr.) and his descendants. Access to these trails, and additional access to the state park trails, is available from Sleepy Hollow Road and Bedford Road/Route 448 in Sleepy Hollow. A section of

442-517: The Village Voice who asked the publication to give to his legal defense fund, which was refused. Schorr showed the "committee report...on television and discussed its contents," resulting in his resignation from CBS and, to his death, refused "to identify his source for the Pike committee report." The CIA later wrote that "these Congressional investigations eventually delved into all aspects of

476-572: The CIA and the IC [Intelligence Community] and for the first time in the Agency's history, CIA officials faced hostile Congressional committees bent on the exposure of abuses by intelligence agencies and on major reforms," while criticizing the Pike Committee for never developing a "cooperative working relationship with the Agency [CIA] or the Ford administration." Yet the CIA also wrote that "despite its failures,

510-563: The Pacific as a dive bomber and night fighter pilot from 1942 until 1946. He graduated with an AB from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in 1943 after completing a senior thesis titled "American-Chinese Relations: Emphasizing the Years 1931-1941." He then received a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School in 1948. Pike was first elected to public office in

544-433: The Pike Committee inquiry was a new and dramatic break with the past [because] it was the first significant House investigation of the IC since the creation of the CIA in 1947." The London School of Economics and Political Science wrote a similar piece in 2011, saying that the oversight committee chaired by Pike who wanted to publish his committee's report was stonewalled by the Ford administration. This piece also notes that

578-615: The State Park is west of the Preserve, along the Hudson River, and is called the Rockwood Hall section. The Visitor Center in the Preserve also has a small art gallery that frequently displays paintings and photographic art works of local artists. Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture , "a nonprofit farm and educational center designed to demonstrate, teach and promote sustainable, community-based food production,"

612-659: The Town of Riverhead as a Justice of the Peace. Pike ran for Congress in New York's 1st congressional district in 1958, an election which he lost to incumbent Stuyvesant Wainwright . Two years later, in 1960, he ran again and this time narrowly defeated Wainwright. Pike represented the 1st district from January 3, 1961, until January 3, 1979. Pike was a member of the House Armed Services Committee and in

646-713: The Ways and Means Committee. During his nine terms in Congress, he was a proponent of pro-environmental legislation including the creation of the Fire Island National Seashore on Long Island, which now includes the Otis G. Pike Wilderness Area . In early 1965, at a student meeting at Suffolk County Community College, he said that only revolution would result in a change of government in South Africa. At

680-596: The castle. The resulting 204-room house measured 174 x 104 feet and was the second-largest private house in the U.S. at the time, only behind the Biltmore mansion in Asheville, North Carolina . After sitting vacant for a time, the mansion was torn down in the 1940s. In 1971 Representative Otis Pike proposed a bill to expropriate historic Gardiners Island , owned by the Gardiner family since 1639, to turn it into

714-675: The country's state parks. The NASPD further counts over 43,000 miles (69,000 km) of trail, 217,367 campsites, and 8,277 cabins and lodges across U.S. state parks. The largest state park system in the United States is Alaska State Parks , with over 100 sites encompassing 3.3 million acres. Many states include designations beyond "state park" in their state parks systems. Other designations might be state recreation areas , state beaches, and state nature reserves . Some state park systems include long-distance trails and historic sites . To encourage tourism in rural areas, several states have simple lodges, inns, hotels, or motels (usually with

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748-478: The designation at all (such as the lodges of Georgia state parks ). The term "lodge" may also refer to a hiking lodge , essentially a large cabin for hikers rather than a large facility with private rooms and a restaurant. Other lodging may include yurts and tipis . Not all parks owned by a state are necessarily part of its state-park system, such as Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta. Some Texas state parks are

782-493: The local flora , fauna , geology , and cultural history of the area. These programs are designed not only to enhance the visitor experience but also to promote conservation awareness and encourage responsible enjoyment of natural resources. There are 6,792 state park units in the United States, according to the National Association of State Park Directors (NASPD). There are some 813 million annual visits to

816-714: The mid-1970s headed the Congressional Special Select Committee on Intelligence , the House version of the Senate Committee on Intelligence headed by Senator Frank Church. The House of Representatives voted 246–124 to direct that the Pike report not be released if not certified by the President not to contain classified information. However, the report was published by The Village Voice . In his final years in Congress, Pike served on

850-650: The nearby shore of Long Island into a national monument. As a member of congress Pike was generally in favor of military funding. He voted to end the Philadelphia Plan which provided for affirmative action in hiring practices of construction firms on government projects. After the Church Committee had begun its investigation, the Nedzi Committee was created, headed by Democratic Congressman Lucien N. Nedzi , which dissolved only after

884-539: The park, the Rockwood Hall property, fronts the Hudson River. It was formerly the private residence of William Rockefeller , and began use as a New York state park in the early 1970s. In 2018, the park was added to New York's State Register of Historic Places. Rockefeller State Park Preserve is designated by the National Audubon Society as an Important Bird Area with over 180 species, and

918-699: The property was Alexander Slidell Mackenzie , who lived there from 1840 to 1848. Edwin Bartlett obtained the property and build Rockwood, an English Gothic castle of locally quarried stone. Bartlett sold the house to his business partner William Henry Aspinwall in 1860; Aspinwall made it his summer home and improved the property and house, and purchased enough land to make his estate 200 acres (81 ha). Upon his death in 1875, his son Lloyd Aspinwall lived there until 1886. William Rockefeller then purchased it for $ 150,000. Rockefeller expanded his property to about 1,000 acres (400 ha) and either renovated or rebuilt

952-559: The report describes "details of a covert CIA operation in support of Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, who were fighting for autonomy against the sinister, pro-Communist, Ba’ath regime in Baghdad" but that in their view there were distortions of "important details" and criticism of Henry Kissinger . In the present, the Mary Farrell Foundation decided to publish the sections of the final report Pike wanted to make public in

986-505: The same meeting, he also stated that "politicians keep their ear so close to the ground that an ant can jump in" referring to their ability to know what their constituents are thinking. He decided not to seek a 10th term in 1978 and retired from Congress in January 1979. In September 1971, Pike put forward a bill that would have turned historic Gardiners Island , Cartwright Island , Gardiners Point Island , Hicks Island , and 1000 acres of

1020-402: The snow". The park is open year-round, from sunrise to sunset, with office hours from 9   a.m. to 4:30   p.m. There is a $ 6.00 fee for parking. Rockwood Hall, a section of the state park, was formerly the site of the home of William Rockefeller , brother of John D. Rockefeller . Laurance Rockefeller donated the land to New York in 1999 for use as a park. One of the early owners of

1054-474: The state line. Other multi-state parks are legally two separate parks with the same name and more informal cooperation between them. The title of oldest state park in the United States is claimed by Niagara Falls State Park in New York , established in 1885. Several public parks previously or currently maintained at the state level pre-date it. Indian Springs State Park has been operated continuously by

Rockefeller State Park Preserve - Misplaced Pages Continue

1088-454: The state of Georgia as a public park since 1825, although it did not gain the title "State Park" until 1931. In 1864 Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove were ceded by the federal government to California until Yosemite National Park was proclaimed in 1890. In 1878 Wisconsin set aside a vast swath of its northern forests as "The State Park" but, needing money, sold most of it to lumber companies within 20 years. Mackinac National Park

1122-506: The sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational potential. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U.S. state , some of the Mexican states , and in Brazil . The term is also used in

1156-473: Was established in 1875 as the second U.S. national park before being converted to a state park in 1895. The first state park with the designation of "state park" was Itasca State Park in Minnesota , established in 1891. Many state park systems date to the 1930s, when around 800 state parks (and several national ones) across the country were developed with assistance from federal job-creation programs like

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