Late last year, the R.I. Habitat Restoration Team reconvened after something of a hiatus and, among other things, decided to establish several habitat-specific working groups to work on fostering more and better restoration--whether through planning and prioritization, policy and legislative recommendations, or other means--each group will determine its own areas of focus.
Rachel Calabro of Save The Bay and I will be chairing a R.I. Rivers Restoration working group. Our first meeting will be held on Thursday, Feb. 10, from 10 a.m. to noon, in Room 280 at DEM headquarters, 235 Promenade St., Providence. The meeting is public and open to anyone with an interest in the subject. Though our focus is primarily on Rhode Island, those from other states which share watersheds with R.I. are encouraged to attend.
The purpose of this meeting is to:
--Assess river restoration needs & issues in R.I.
--Agree upon the scope/mission of the working group
--Identify or begin to identify actions the group can undertake to promote and improve river restoration in Rhode Island--policy, legal, scientific, planning/strategic, etc.
--Briefly establish group logistics
--Any other related business you'd like to put on the table.
I will be compiling a rough list of issues for discussion; please send me any you'd like to add, or additional agenda items as need be. Or feel free to call me for more information.
For information on the other habitat-specific working groups, which include Eelgrass, Freshwater Wetlands, Shellfish, Invasive Species, Salt Marshes and Climate Change Planning / Adaptation, contact Caitlin Chaffee at CRMC. cchaffee@CRMC.RI.GOV
Hope to see you on the 10th!
Tom Ardito
Narragansett Bay Estuary Program
Bay Campus Box 27
Narragansett, RI 02882
401-874-6492
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