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RI Coastal Resources Management Council

...to preserve, protect, develop, and restore coastal resources for all Rhode Islanders

CRMC announces funding for 11 habitat restoration projects

February 15 , 2006, WAKEFIELD— The RI Coastal Resources Management Council has awarded $250,000 for 11 habitat restoration projects, ranging from continued support for the RI Habitat Restoration Portal to the installation of fish ladders and marsh restoration.

The Council approved the funds at last night’s semi-monthly meeting, for projects that will restore the Wakefield fishway with a new slide gate; construct a permanent fish barrier screen downstream of the Gilbert Stuart Fishway; restore the fish passage for the lower Woonasquatucket River and restore habitat and improve riparian buffer at the Dyerville Dam site on the river; restore the Lower Shannock Falls Dam to restore access to historic upstream spawning and rearing habitat for American shad, river herring, sea-run brown trout and American eel; restore fish passage at the Pawtuxet Falls dam and natural ledge; restore salt marsh and brackish plant and animal habitat in Little Massachuck Creek salt marsh; control invasive species and facilitate wetland restoration on three Rhode Island national wildlife refuges; support the Portal web site, a site dedicated to coastal restoration opportunities in the state; inventory potentially restorable wetlands; and for equipment that will be used statewide for restoration projects.

“The CRMC is encouraged by the volume of restoration projects it received this year,” said Chairman Michael M. Tikoian. “With the funding the Council has granted toward these fish ladders, restoration and wetlands inventory projects, Rhode Island’s coastal and estuarine habitats will be greatly improved.”

The RI Department of Environmental Management’s Fish & Wildlife Division requested and was granted $10,000 for its Wakefield Fishway Slide Gate project, one of three fishways on the Saugatucket River in South Kingstown. The river system provides more than 350 acres of habitat for river herring and American eel. The Wakefield fishway has been in operation since 1971 but the original slide gate has been out of commission for nearly 10 years, and needs to be replaced. In addition to improving fish passage, a new slide gate will also allow the Fish & Wildlife staff to collect scientific data, maintain the fishway and enhance downstream passage by aiding a proposed juvenile diverter planned at the site.

The Council awarded $10,000 toward the construction of a permanent fish barrier screen downstream of the Gilbert Stuart Fishway, located on the Pettasquamscutt River in Saunderstown. The new barrier will prevent anadromous river herring from entering a dead end channel and divert migrating fish toward the fishway, which provides access to the spawning and nursery area.

The Rising Sun Mill Fish Passage project, which will restore fish passage for the lower Woonasquatucket River with the construction of a denil fish ladder and plunge pool to allow upstream and downstream fish access to the reservoir, received $37,500 from the Habitat Restoration Trust Fund.

The CRMC also awarded $32,000 to the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council for the Dyerville Dam project on and along the Woonasquatucket River, which includes the restoration of anadromous fish passage and habitat restoration. The project aims to increase the functional wildlife and buffer value of the area, promote stream-bank stabilization and link to downstream efforts to promote fish restoration in the Woonasquatucket River system.

The Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association received $50,000 from the Council for its Shannock Village Dams Fish Passage project, which will restore American shad, river herring, sea-run brown trout and American eel access to historic upstream spawning and rearing habitat by providing efficient passage at the Lower and Upper Shannock Falls Dams. Both dams are located on the main steam of the Pawcatuck River. These dams currently bar access to upstream spawning and nursery habitat.

The CRMC awarded $50,000 to the Pawtuxet River Authority for its Pawtuxet River Anadromous Fish Restoration project, which would restore a self-sustaining run of river herring an American shad to the river. Currently, fish passage is obstructed by the Pawtuxet Falls Dam at the river’s mouth. Restoring the fish run would open up 7.5 miles of spawning habitat above the dam on the main stem of the River and Pocasset River.

The Barrington Land Conservation Trust received $2,562 from the Trust Fund for its Little Mussachuck Creek Marsh Restoration project, which would restore salt marsh and brackish plant and animal species to the area. A breach in the 1980s allowed bay saltwater to reach the beach pond, and by the 1990s the breach had migrated north and closed in completely; since then, the only entrance of salt water is from a small creek at the southernmost end of the breach. The goal of the project is to continue the existing effort to control the invasive Phragmites in the marsh.

The CRMC also awarded $20,000 to the US Fish & Wildlife Service for a project encompassing the towns of Charlestown, Narragansett and South Kingstown. The Invasive Species Control and Wetlands Restoration on Three National Wildlife Refuges and Adjacent Lands in Rhode Island project includes the Ninigret, Trustom Pond and John H. Chafee National Wildlife Refuges. These three refuges have an extensive distribution of non-native invasive plant species. In 2002, staff conducted a three-year experimental Phragmites removal at Trustom Pond NWR, which was successful in reducing the cover by 90 percent. The result has been recovery of native plants and enhancement of the shoreline habitat. This project aims to continue the Phragmites removal and restore the native habitat.

Funding will also go toward the Army Corps of Engineers’ (ACOE) continued inventory 50 Rhode Island coastal wetland sites, which will be further evaluated for restoration areas along the coast. The inventory will build upon the approximately 75 sites (299 acres) which were identified by the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program in a 2001 report. The Corps project was awarded $14,725 during FY 2005 from the Trust Fund.

The Rhode Island Coastal Wetlands Inventory project will identify potentially restorable coastal wetlands stretching from the state’s western border to Narragansett Bay, and also Tiverton, Little Compton and Block Island, to identify opportunities for future wetland restoration projects. The Corps will release a report with details of each wetland or site studied. Congress will provide $65,000 in funding for the Corps under the Planning Assistance to States (PAS) program for the $130,000 project; CRMC awarded $17,775 toward the project.

The CRMC also awarded more than $9,500 to the University of Rhode Island’s Environmental Data Center for continued support for the RI Habitat Restoration Web Portal. DEM’s Mosquito Abatement Program also received more than $10,000 for equipment upgrades for its Positrack, which is used for, among other things, removal of Phragmites in restoration projects.

Habitat restoration projects are funded through the RI Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration Trust Fund and are selected from recommendations by the RI Habitat Restoration Team, established by CRMC, Save The Bay and the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program in 1998. Members of the team serve as a technical advisory committee for the CRMC as required by law. Funds for the program come from the state’s Oil Spill Prevention Administration and Response Act (OSPAR), established by the legislature following the 1996 North Cape oil spill. Each year, the RI General Assembly allocates $250,000 from the OSPAR account to habitat restoration projects in the state. For FY 2006, the Trust Fund and the projects that received funds leveraged $1.3 million in matching federal and other funds.

Stedman Government Center
Suite 116, 4808 Tower Hill Road, Wakefield, RI 02879-1900
Voice 401-783-3370 • Fax 401-783-2069 • E-Mail cstaff1@crmc.ri.gov

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