Roughly a third of birds that breed or overwinter on Audubon properties in RI are in decline, while about a quarter may be experiencing growth. Even common birds, like the red-winged blackbird and the grackle, are suffering. Reversing the declines of some birds will be impossible, but it’s not too late for others.
“Birds that migrate, songbirds especially, usually migrate at night,” Calcagno said. “So light pollution can disorient them, can cause them to hit buildings, and it can cause them to be attracted to certain lighting. We have resorts and hotels and all these things along the coast which can affect them. It can cause a lot of birds to not go the way they’re supposed to go; or it can increase mortality from strikes; or they may even fly too far over the ocean to get away from the light, get exhausted and fall out of the sky and not survive.”
Many spoke in favor of the Town Administrator, but it could not change the outcome. “I found he guided the town with a very thoughtful and steady hand,” Tremblay said. “He met our expectations with vision, vigor and street smarts, and the street smarts are really important, and he’s got them.” Like others, Tremblay called the decision a “great loss” for the town. No public speakers supported the move. “I can’t understand why we let this valuable resource walk out the door,” Tremblay said.
A Special House Commission on Land Use was created in 2021 to examine how Rhode Island is using and managing its 1,214 square miles. Critics of the ongoing effort, however, claim the outcome is predetermined: reduce regulations and local control to encourage more development.
Five years after the Federal Railroad Administration set aside the idea of a high-speed rail bypass between Old Saybrook and Kenyon, R.I., in the face of near unanimous opposition across the region, the federal agency announced today that it was reviving a key study intended to settle, once and for all, a route for rail travel between New Haven and Providence.
Hopkinton – Byrnes was requesting that the town change its land-use table to allow a “commercial water distribution center,” which would help clear the way for a commercial well on his property. The issue highlighted the clash between individual property owners’ rights and the fact that water in Rhode Island is becoming a scarce resource.
“Only In Your State” calls Ninigret Park “Home To One Of The Best Dark Sky Parks In The World” “Boasting some of the darkest skies on the East Coast, Frosty Drew Observatory & Sky Theatre at Ninigret Park in Charlestown offers the perfect way to spend a Friday evening – all year around.”
Read the full story in the Only In Your State article.
“Only In Your State” reviews the Vin Gormley Trail that “offers endless opportunities for photos and quiet moments of reflection. With an abundance of lush green, a cascading waterfall and a picturesque boardwalk, the trail gives off a magical, fairy tale vibe that you really have to experience to appreciate. Perhaps even better, it’s picture-perfect in all seasons.”
Providence Journal: From a dark corner of Charlestown, not far from the ocean, the view reaches millions of light years into space. The Frosty Drew Observatory & Sky Theatre’s new PlaneWave CDK600 telescope has already provided images of galaxies more than 55 million and 80 million light years away from Earth. “It’s the best telescope in Rhode Island that’s accessible to the public,” said Scott MacNeill, observatory director.
Council members passed two resolutions this week calling on action from the state as Charlestown joins a growing list of communities that are seeking to resurrect legislation first presented in 2016 that would let towns better regulate and monitor quarry activity. The resolutions, which were presented by councilor Bonnie Van Slyke and passed unanimously, take aim at addressing combinations of noise pollution, air pollution and nuisance abatement.
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont discussed accelerating investment in high-speed rail by leveraging the new federal funds provided by the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act at a meeting with Amtrak officials. A spokesperson for CT DOT said the meeting did not include a status update on the Old Saybrook to Kenyon bypass.
A U.S. Department of Transportation “Providence to New Haven Capacity Planning Study” has some local officials wondering whether the original plan to run train tracks through sections of their town, and other Rhode Island and Connecticut towns, might not be dead after all.
RI DEM owns and manages a public boat launch and about 40 acres of property in Charlestown to the west of the breachway that connects Quonochontaug Pond to Block Island Sound. An informational meeting, hosted by DEM, presented a recent assessment of the breachway and the access road/parking lot and focused on ways to improve the pond and breachway’s resiliency in the face of rising sea levels and other climate-crisis impacts.
“The problem is, according to Haberek, Kenyon Industries is not currently capable of meeting the new, stricter standards. He said DEM and the company would therefore need to negotiate a consent agreement that would set a timetable for Kenyon to comply with the state’s new effluent limits.”
During its September 7 special meeting, the Zoning Board of Review took public comment that included testimony about the Route 91 operation and included numerous complaints. The board voted unanimously, 5-0, to reject the appeal and found Charlestown Farms provided insufficient evidence for the applicant’s appeal and affirmed the decision of the town’s building and zoning official, Joseph Warner.
Charlestown’s Zoning Official has determined that the nonconforming legal use does not apply to lots 3 and 4-1 because the company has not done enough to prove the burden of a nonconforming legal use. Next meeting regarding the appeal of the ruling of the Zoning Official before the Zoning Board will be held on September 7 at 7 p.m. at the Charlestown Town Hall.
Cynthia Drummond reports on the pace of growth in Charlestown and the impacts on everything from the Zoning Department, to the Planning Commission, to our Coastal Ponds and even drinking water.
Lisa Tewksbury, Charlestown resident and director of the URI Biocontrol Laboratory, has launched a targeted biocontrol effort to fight the emerald ash borer. First found in RI in 2018, emerald ash borers are threatening to destroy the entire population of ash trees in Rhode Island. Do you have an ash tree in your yard or on your street? If so, watch out for this invasive beetle. Lisa and her students are deploying three species of parasitic wasp from Asia that lay their eggs in the beetle’s eggs or larvae to try to control the ash borer.
A study of the impact of utility scale solar power installations on nearby housing prices by University of Rhode Island economists found that house prices within a mile of a Rhode Island or Massachusetts solar array declined by an average of 1.7%. Homes within a tenth of a mile of the installations declined by 7%.
As neighboring towns continue to approve the clearing of forest for utility scale solar, a new report shows RI has room to generate lots of solar energy without sacrificing the state’s dwindling green spaces.
Rhode Island’s 386,373 acres of forest protect drinking water, filter air, mitigate climate change, provide opportunities for outdoor recreation, promote health, harbor wildlife, and create economic value, according to the state’s Department of Environment (DEM). The Ocean State’s forests also improve air quality, sequester carbon, help manage stormwater runoff, and provide a “sense of place” for rural communities.
CT Examiner is the publication launched by Greg Stroud who was the founder of SECoast that helped us defeat the “Old Saybrook to Kenyon Bypass” that threatened to bisect northern Charlestown. Here he and Cate Hewitt write about Charlestown. It’s worth a read!
Virginia Lee, president of the Charlestown Town Council, has a unique understanding of the salt ponds. She appreciates their economic value to the town, and as a scientist, she has also studied salt pond ecosystems that are affected by development, climate change and other factors.
The objective of the project was to dredge the breachway, improving the flow of water and water quality in the pond. The dredged sediment was used on-site to build up the salt marsh, which has been subsiding — effectively drowning in place.
Advanced wastewater treatment systems, also referred to as denitrification systems because they reduce nutrients such as nitrogen, are required by the state for new buildings on the coast. Despite the more stringent regulations, however, groundwater nitrate levels remain elevated in several Charlestown neighborhoods and in the three salt ponds.
This excellent Rhode Island Monthly article by Todd McLeish explains that the harbor seals are only here in the winter months when water is cold. They head north to cooler waters in the summer. Story begins with a Blue Shutters seal release.
The Charlestown Planning Commission voted Wednesday against a controversial plan that would bring a Dollar General retail store to the village district off Old Post Road.
ecoRI: The ability of our woodlands to sustain our landscape and provide all those benefits is threatened by their continued loss and by fragmentation of the canopy. The rate at which the construction of roads, subdivisions and other human development continue to break up large, contiguous blocks of forest into an increasing number of smaller pieces is alarming. Fragmentation divides up the resource, and these islands of woodland provide limited benefits.
ecoRI: As the state progresses toward its renewable-energy goals, pressures are increasing to develop land with solar or wind resources, causing concern in some communities, especially rural ones. With smart local siting policies, both of the two “green” goals of renewable energy and land conservation can be achieved. Rhode Island communities can enjoy both the benefits of renewables and be good stewards of our landscapes and habitats.
EcoRI: “The solution is to site projects in places that make sense environmentally and societally. The current policy, though, is nothing more than a collective shrug and the repeated claim that it’s cheaper to cut down trees than redevelop disturbed areas.”
