A family walks along the shoreline at Conimicut Point in Warwick.
The R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) and Rhode Island Sea Grant will continue their summer webinar series aimed at informing the public on issues related to shoreline public access in Rhode Island with a session on environmental justice and shoreline access. The second of three webinars will be held on June 30, 2021, from 5-6:30 pm. “Shoreline Access for All: Environmental Justice Along the Coast” will introduce environmental justice issues pertaining to shoreline public access in Rhode Island. Kate Mulvaney, Social Scientist for the Environmental Protection Agency, will discuss environmental justice in this context, and will talk about findings from a study investigating relative access to coastal public access points based on race, income, and geographic location across the state. In addition, Julia Twichell, Watershed and GIS specialist for the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, will present research that used cell phone data to track visits to coastal public access points. Leah Feldman, CRMC Policy Analyst, will conclude by exploring the impacts of participation in a place-based educational sailing program in Newport, RI, as well as outline CRMC’s work to improve equity in coastal access. The remaining portion of the webinar will be dedicated to a question-and-answer session.
Registration is free, and registered participants will be able to submit questions prior to the event. To register, please click here.
A recording of the previous webinar in the series, “Shoreline Access 101: What You Need to Know,” is available at www.crmc.ri.gov/publicaccess.html.
Visitors to Rhode Island coastal areas come from throughout Rhode Island, the region, and even internationally. Image courtesy of the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program.
