Sister Organizations

Since the inception of Mohonk Mountain House, the Smiley family has been committed to sustaining the natural environment and engaging with thought leaders from around the globe on various issues of importance for the time.

In 1963, The Mohonk Trust was founded by Smiley family members and Mohonk friends, as a not-for-profit land trust, with goals related to the family’s long-held land stewardship concerns and preservation of open space. This private nature trust is known today as Mohonk Preserve.

In 1980, Albert K. Smiley, Jr. established Mohonk Consultations to carry on the Smiley family tradition of bringing people together to discuss the interrelationships of all life on earth, with emphasis on the sustainable use of the earth’s resources.

Mohonk Consultations

Mohonk Consultations is a nonprofit organization aimed at helping communities thrive in practical ways. Its mission is to foster a clearer awareness of the interrelationship of all life on earth and to find practical means to sustain life. Mohonk Consultations centers its efforts on the Hudson Valley while incorporating global and national perspectives as well. Programs include conferences, forums, awards, publications, and public meetings. Embraced by the neutral and supportive venue of our Victorian castle resort, attendees use their diverse viewpoints and experiences to brainstorm and develop practical solutions to problematic issues.

 Mohonk Consultations was founded in 1980 by the late A. Keith Smiley, Helen Vukasin, and others associated with The Mohonk Trust. It is a separate entity from Mohonk Mountain House.

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Mohonk Preserve

Mohonk Preserve is New York’s largest non-profit nature preserve whose mission is to protect the Shawangunk Mountains region and inspire people to care for, enjoy, and explore their natural world. In partnership with their members, supporters, and volunteers, the Preserve protects and manages over 8,000 acres of mountain ridges, forests, fields, streams, ponds, and other unique and beautiful places. Mohonk Preserve welcomes over 200,000 visitors each year.

With the help of volunteers, dedicated donors, and expert staff, The Preserve accomplishes its goal of protecting one of the region’s most treasured and beautiful places by conducting programs in four key areas – environmental education, land protection, land stewardship, and conservation science.

Mohonk Preserve and Mohonk Mountain House are sister organizations and neighbors with a shared history and interconnected trail network. The Mohonk Preserve is a separate entity from Mohonk Mountain House.

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Lake Mohonk Conferences

Understanding the Past and Building a Better Future

In 2024, a group of fourth and fifth generation members of the Smiley Family, along with representatives from Mohonk Consultations and Mohonk Preserve, assembled and developed an Indigenous Relations Working Group to more clearly understand the Smiley’s role in the outcome of Federal policies related to Indigenous peoples during the turn of the century.

The Smiley family forebears at Mohonk were deeply concerned with the civil and racial inequalities of the post-Civil War period. They sought to create solutions through discussions at Mohonk Mountain House as hosts of the Lake Mohonk Conferences of Friends of the Indian (1883-1916, 1929).
We recognize that while our ancestors were intending to do good, the conference attendees contributed to Federal policies that caused harm to Indigenous peoples. We are striving to clearly understand the range and depth of consequences stemming from the conferences for past, present, and future generations of Indigenous Peoples.

To this end, the working group continues to meet regularly and will share relevant information, including Chapter 5, “The Conferences,” from Mohonk and the Smileys authored by Larry E. Burgess, that outlines this period of time in the history of the Mohonk enterprise.

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Sister Organizations