DEM Director Sullivan Agrees Public
Values of State Parks and Management Areas Should Be
Protected
PROVIDENCE—Environmental and land conservation
advocates gathered outside the Rhode Island State House today to call for
increased open space protections for lands in Rhode Island’s parks, and
management areas.
Citing the speed with which open spaces are disappearing
and some previous threats to Rhode
Island’s public lands, representatives of the Rhode
Island Land Trust Council, Environment Rhode Island and the Audubon Society of
Rhode Island urged the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM)
to implement new rules to protect state parks and management
areas.
At the press conference, DEM Director Michael Sullivan
responded to the Advocates calls by agreeing that, “the public values of the
state’s parks and management areas should be permanently protected,” and
offering to start a dialogue with advocates over the fine print of the rules.
DEM must still issue the rules that will extend
protections to these lands and create clear standards, guidelines and procedures
to evaluate the open space and natural values impact of proposed changes in the
use or ownership of state properties, including state parks and management
areas.
“We are thrilled with Director Sullivan’s commitment to
giving Rhode
Island’s state parks and management areas the permanent
protections they need and we look forward to implementing rules that will cement
that policy in stone,” said Matt Auten, Advocate for Environment Rhode
Island.”
According to the groups, legislation passed by the
General Assembly in 2006 (S-2497) lays the groundwork for DEM to initiate a
rulemaking process to give state parks, management areas and other critical
state lands the protections that all sides now agree they should have.
“In 2005 we were surprised to discover that there was
little or no system of checks and balances in place to protect lands in most
state parks and management areas for the long-term,” said Rupert Friday of the
Rhode Island Land Trust Council. “This was worrisome, but thanks to the General
Assembly we now have the framework to ensure that lands are protected for future
generations to visit and enjoy.“
A new report released by Environment Rhode Island at the
event called “Rhode Island’s Natural
Heritage At Risk,” detailed the risks that open spaces in Rhode Island face and
offered a vision for protecting them. The report cited research showing that
Rhode Island
is the second most developed state in the country and that nearly all of the
state’s developable land could be consumed by 2050, if the state’s trend of
sprawling growth continues unabated. One of the report’s key findings was that
Rhode Island
should ensure that all state parks have total and permanent protections from
development. A copy of the report can be found on the Environment Rhode Island
website at: www.environmentrhodeisland.org
In a 2002 survey conducted by DEM, 80 percent of
respondents reported using a state park, coastal beach or woodland management
area operated by the state within the previous twelve months, a figure that is
well above the national average.
State parks and management areas also provide critical
habitat for a wide variety of plants and wildlife, including many species that
appear on endangered and threatened species lists.
“Five hundred years ago we began the systematic breakup
of the North American forest,” said Eugenia Marks, Senior Director for Policy at
the Audubon Society of Rhode Island. “In the mid-1900s we began to pay attention
to preserving some of what is left, but those areas need further protections so
we don’t loose them too. Year-round wildlife in Rhode Island, and the migratory
birds that raise the next generation here, need assurance of habitat; public
lands play a critical role in providing that habitat,” Marks
continued.
The letter sent to DEM Director Sullivan urging him to
begin the rulemaking process was signed by the Audubon Society of Rhode Island,
Clean Water Action, Conservation Law Foundation, Environment Council of Rhode
Island Education Fund, Environment Rhode Island, Rhode Island Chapter of the
Nature Conservancy, Rhode Island Land Trust Council and Save the
Bay.
Letter_to_DEM_Re_2497_Implementation.doc
S2497A_legislation.pdf