Open Spaces Program Reports
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Executive Summary
From beautiful woods and forests, to the banks of
pristine lakes and rivers, from the coastal beauty of Narragansett Bay, to
meadows and working farms, open spaces are a big part of what makes Rhode
Island a special place to live and visit.
Unfortunately, developers bent on sprawl are
fragmenting, degrading and eliminating thousands of acres of Rhode Island’s open spaces each year. Today
the Ocean State is the second most-developed state
in the nation and we run the risk of losing the places that make Rhode
Island special—our treasured landscapes, wooded
areas, and scenic coastline.
Despite Rhode Island’s sprawling pattern of
development and small geographic size, there remain a surprising number of
natural treasures and valuable open spaces all across Rhode Island that are
worth protecting. These valuable areas include beloved local woods and meadows,
beaches and rocky shores, forests and working farms.
While many of these special places still exist
today, more and more of them are lost each year. Unless more open space is
permanently protected and the trend of sprawling development is slowed and
reversed, many of these most valued open spaces will be developed over the next
several decades.
This report documents the threat that sprawling
development poses to Rhode Island’s
open spaces, articulates a vision for preserving our landscapes, and recommends
policy solutions to achieve that vision.
Protecting Rhode
Island’s natural heritage is about protecting the
open spaces and special places that define its character and natural beauty.
That means protecting our parks and wild lands, planning for economic growth
and development within our existing footprint, conserving critical habitat and
coastal areas, and providing access to Rhode
Island’s waters and natural beauty.
Combined, the policy options listed below will help
permanently protect Rhode Island’s
existing parks and wild lands, and conserve more open space in our communities.
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