CRMC, Save The Bay will host beach cleanup

May 1, 2013, WAKEFIELD – The RI Coastal Resources Management Council, along with Save The Bay, will be holding a beach cleanup on Friday, May 3, 2013 at South Kingstown Town Beach and Matunuck at 2 p.m.

In celebration of Earth Day and the start of the CRMC’s work on the Shoreline Change or “Beach” Special Area Management Plan (SAMP), CRMC staff will be participating in the beach cleanup and will also have educational materials available on the SAMP.

The public is invited to participate. Bags will be provided, but bring gloves and wear weather-appropriate clothing. The cleanup will begin at the town beach (park in that lot). The Town of South Kingstown will generously be providing trash removal.

The CRMC, along with the University of Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Center and Rhode Island Sea Grant, is developing the Beach SAMP to address problems facing Rhode Island’s coastal communities. The SAMP will provide a long-term plan for these cities and towns to plan for and be more resilient to natural processes like erosion, sea level rise and flooding.

The SAMP will be developed in three phases over the next three years: Phase I will focus on the south shore (Napatree Point to Point Judith and Block Island), Phase II will focus on the east facing shoreline of Narragansett and south facing shorelines of Aquidneck Island and Little Compton, and Phase III will focus on particularly threatened areas of Narragansett Bay.