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ecoRI News: Illuminating The Darkness Negatively Impacts Animals And Humans Alike

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“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.”

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Westerly Sun: Stankiewicz Resigns As Charlestown Administrator

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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.

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CT Examiner: Revival of High-Speed Rail Planning Between New Haven and Providence

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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.

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Photo of Milky Way over Frosty Drew Observatory by Scott MacNeill

Only In Your State: Ninigret Park “Home To One Of The Best Dark Sky Parks In The World”

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“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.

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Photo of deer in Charlestown, RI

The Vin Gormley Trail In Charlestown Is Unexpectedly Magical

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“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.”

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Photo of Milky Way over Frosty Drew Observatory by Scott MacNeill

New Frosty Drew Telescope Provides Glimpse At Galaxies Far, Far Away

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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.

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Westerly Sun: Charlestown Asks Legislature To Allow Local Control Of Quarry Regulations

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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.

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ecoRI News: Work Planned To Make Quonochontaug Pond And Breachway More Climate Resilient

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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.

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ecoRI News: Residents Speak Out Against Quarry’s Expanded Operation

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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.

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Photo of Rt. 91 Quarry in 2021

ecoRI News: Charlestown Officials Say Quarry Expansion Goes Against Zoning, Allege Illegal Processing of Off-Site Materials

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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.

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URI: Biocontrol Effort To Fight The Emerald Ash Borer

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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.

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Photos of trees in the Moraine Preserve

New Study Finds R.I.’s Forests Need Vigilant Protection

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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.

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URI study assessing groundwater impact on salt ponds

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“The amount of nutrients coming in, in groundwater inputs, was always assumed to be small enough that you could ignore it, and that’s what the models did. They just basically ignored it,” he said. “To many of us, that really didn’t make a whole lot of sense, because the materials that the ponds and bay are in are surrounded by pretty porous glacial materials.”

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Rhode Island’s Forests are a Shared Gift and a Shared Responsibility

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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.

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R.I.’s Climate Solutions: Smartly Sited Renewables and Protected Natural Resources

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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.

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