The corporation was actively pursuing development of the property, proposing construction of 14,500 residential units and 7.4 million square feet of commercial and light industrial space.

By the 1990s, this advocacy was centered on the Public/Private Partnership to Save Sterling Forest, a coalition of twenty-nine New York and New Jersey nonprofit organizations chaired by Robert O. Binnewies, Executive Director of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission.

In 1998, The Trust for Public Land and the Open Space Institute negotiated a purchase on behalf of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission of 15,805 acres of corporate holdings for $55 million.

Governors George Pataki (NY) and Christine Todd Whitman (NJ) jointly announced that Sterling Forest State Park was established.

[7][8][9][3][10] Among additional acquisitions subsequent to establishment, in November 1999, The Trust for Public Land and the Open Space Institute succeeded in purchasing 659 acres from New York University for inclusion in the park.

In February 2021, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the addition of another 112 acres to the state park, resulting from a partnership with the Orange County Land Trust.

The park's forest habitat is important for the survival of several species, including timber rattlesnakes,[10] black bear, fox, various raptors and songbirds, and many rare invertebrates and plants.