Coastal Communities & Ecosystems

Save The Date: Climate Change and Rhode Island’s Coast: Where Will Tomorrow’s Shoreline Be?

When: June 17, 2008
Where: The Towers, Narragansett, Rhode Island
Hosted by: Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council and the URI Coastal Institute
Sponsored by: The Rhode Island Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and the Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program

The CRMC and URI Coastal Institute are sponsoring a day-long discussion on climate change and its effects on Rhode  Island’s coastline with information that all coastal property owners need to know. The day’s events will include discussions led by the CRMC, URI  Graduate School of Oceanography, the state’s geologist and more.

Check the CRMC web site at www.crmc.ri.gov for updates, and for a link to register. Seating is limited, so register soon. The event is free and open to the public, but all attendees must register in advance.

For more information contact:
Laura Ricketson-Dwyer
CRMC public educator & information coordinator
(401) 783-7886
lricketson@crmc.ri.gov

Rubinoff presents climate change adaptation talk at global conference

Pamela Rubinoff gave a plenary talk in April in Hanoi, Viet Nam, on climate change adaptation at the “4th Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands: Advancing Ecosystem Management and Integrated Coastal and Ocean Management by 2010 in the Context of Climate Change.” Rubinoff discussed a U.S. Agency for International Development publication, “Adapting to Climate Variability and Change,” and efforts to tailor lessons to coastal systems. She identified the need for long-term and place-based approaches, the use of local and traditional knowledge, outcome-based and adaptive adaptation, and a transition to long-term political choices. More information is available at www.iisd.ca/ymb/sdoh4/ymb/ymbvol68num4e.html.

Woonasquatucket plan augments SAMP

Work has been completed on “Recommendations for Management of the Woonasquatucket River and Promenade Street District,” a new supplement to the Metro Bay Special Area Management Plan (SAMP) that follows participation by Woonasquatucket River stakeholders in workshops last year. The plan and maps can be accessed online at seagrant.gso.uri.edu/metrosamp/woon_plan/. 

Rhode Island’s ports and commercial harbors: A GIS inventory of current uses and infrastructure and recommendations for future enhancement

With support from Rhode Island Statewide Planning’s Challenge Grant Program, the URI Coastal Resources Center/Rhode Island Sea Grant announces a new study of Rhode Island’s commercial/industrial ports and harbors. This project will provide statewide data that will inform the waterborne-freight, marine transportation, and land-use-planning process.  It will: 1) Prepare a comprehensive Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based inventory of marine commercial/industrial uses and infrastructure and their current utilization of Rhode Island ports and commercial harbors; and 2) Using inventory data and input from key stakeholders, make recommendations for future enhancement of marine commercial/industrial uses and infrastructure that can collectively resolve some pressing state issues.

Federal surface transportation legislation calls for joint decision making on a metropolitan level in conducting transportation planning that addresses land-use and transportation interactions.  In Rhode Island’s shoreline region, port and commercial harbor planning has traditionally occurred in isolated fashion, with little attention paid to the impact of decisions on the economic, environmental, and social resources of Narragansett Bay as a whole, the state of Rhode Island, or Southern New England. As with other states, ports and harbors may provide solutions to many of Rhode Island’s issues, including freight transportation, traffic congestion, and economic development. By looking ahead at anticipated transportation-related problems, Rhode Island can make better use of the unique resources represented by its ports and commercial harbors and their connections to the greater marine transportation system.

More information is available at seagrant.gso.uri.edu/ccd/ri_ports_harbors_inventory/.