Outdoors in RI: Deer season record breaker, FEMA, Poaching, Hunter helps solve a murder, 2A

Climate Change – Hazard Mitigation – Port of Galilee

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM), the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency (RIEMA), and the Congressional Delegation announced that Rhode Island has received a $15.5M Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program award – the largest grant ever received by the state through the program – matched with state funds,to improve resilience to the increasing impacts of climate change.

These funds will be used for a $17.2M project to elevate structures at the Port of Galilee in Narragansett and Wickford Dock. Additionally, a total of eight docks will be replaced at three DEM marine facilities – Galilee, DEM’s Division of Marine Fisheries’ Jerusalem facility, and DEM’s Division of Law Enforcement’s Wickford Marine Base. 

Extreme weather, inland and coastal flooding, and sea level rise, are predicted to accelerate on scientific modeling. Galilee is one of the largest ports on the East Coast, the 13th highest value fishing port in the country, and the 4th highest value fishing port on the East Coast.

The grant will fund design strategies and marine construction projects to reduce hazards and improve operations at these facilities vital for public safety, commercial fishing, emergency response, and marine resource monitoring.  

“Rhode Island’s ports and critical coastal infrastructure are increasingly threatened by sea level rise and storm surge,” said U.S. Senator Jack Reed, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee. “This new federal funding will allow DEM to replace several docks at three key marine facilities to better protect our fishermen and surrounding businesses from the impacts of climate change. I am pleased to net another $15.5 million in federal funding to address the state’s needs and pay for 90 percent of the cost of this project, which will elevate key structures and make our working waterfronts more resilient to withstand future storms.”

RIEMA Director Marc Pappas added, “This grant, the largest ever awarded to Rhode Island through the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, will fund essential improvements to marine facilities and infrastructure along our coastline. Rhode Island’s shoreline is a cornerstone of our vibrant fishing industry and a key economic driver for tourism in the state.”

“DEM is grateful to our federal partners and RIEMA for helping secure this needed funding to ensure our marine facilities support a robust fishing industry as Rhode Island’s coastal communities increasingly contend with flooding and erosion due to the impacts of climate change,” said DEM Director Terry Gray. “Raising dock structures will help protect them from the climate impacts of sea level rise and extreme storm events. I am extremely proud of the DEM and RIEMA teams who worked closely together on this grant application. This was a new process for many of them, and they worked through it diligently and patiently over the past two years to deliver this funding to Rhode Island.”

Rhode Island’s commercial fishing industry is robust and there is heavy demand for berthing space at these locations. During construction, DEM staff will relocate any vessels currently berthed or utilizing these docks to temporary alternate locations. The commercial fishing industry is integral to Rhode Island’s economy – the overall ex-vessel value of landings in 2023 in RI was $81.7 million. The Port of Galilee is home to much of the Ocean State’s diverse commercial fisheries and interdependent businesses, serving as a critical working port for its 200 commercial fishermen, the businesses that support them, and their families. The fishing and seafood sector is a vital catalyst for Rhode Island’s economy with an economic impact of nearly 9,342 jobs and $872 million in 2022 according to NOAA Fisheries.  

For more information on DEM programs and initiatives, visit www.dem.ri.gov. Follow DEM on Facebook, Twitter/X (@RhodeIslandDEM), or Instagram (@rhodeisland.dem) for timely updates.

___

Rhode Island deer hunt could break record this season – Janine Weisman, Rhode Island Current

(reprinted in partnership agreement with The Rhode Island Current)

If the number of deer brought by hunters to Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM)-operated biological check stations during the first weekend in November is any indication, it’s going to be a good hunting season. The DEM Division of Fish and Wildlife recorded a total of 236 harvested deer checked in at the state’s six stations on Saturday, Nov. 2, and Sunday, Nov. 3, the first weekend of muzzleloader season. That’s almost as many as the 245 brought to check-in stations over the first weekend of muzzleloader season and the first weekend of shotgun season combined last year.

Hunters must check in the deer they kill during the first two days of each firearm season so that state biologists can collect tissue samples and data to learn more about the overall health of Rhode Island’s deer herd. The first weekend of shotgun season is Dec. 7 and 8. Deer taken with archery equipment must also be brought to check-in stations. 

“I think we could potentially break our record harvest this year,” said DEM Principal Wildlife Biologist Dylan Ferreira. The state’s record deer harvest of 2,937 was in the 2008-2009 winter season, Ferreira said. Last year, the deer harvest was 2,794.

Ferreira said 215 deer taken by hunters on opening weekend were shot with a muzzleloader while 21 were archery kills — 12 by hunters using a vertical bow and nine by crossbow. In all, 173 males and 63 females were checked.

The biggest deer was an eight-point buck weighing about 200 pounds killed on Nov. 2 in Scituate by a hunter using a vertical bow, Ferreira said.

Seventeen DEM staff members assisted by 12 volunteers worked over the weekend at the six check-in stations. Here’s the breakdown of deer checked in at each one:

• 68 at George Washington Management Area in Chepachet
• 68 at Arcadia Management Area at Wood River in Exeter
• 29 at Carolina Management Area: Pine Hill Road, Richmond, (41.46618, 
• 27 at Smithfield Sportsman Club in Smithfield
• 24 at Great Swamp Management Area in West Kingston
• 19 at Tiverton Rod and Gun Club in Tiverton

State biologists take samples of teeth and lymph nodes from each deer. The lymph nodes will be sent to a laboratory at the New Bolton Center Diagnostic Laboratories at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine to test for the presence of chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurological disease that affects deer, elk, moose, reindeer that has spread to more than half of the states in the continental United States. Infected deer become unable to eat and show a lack of fear of humans. So far, CWD has not been detected in Rhode Island. This year is the 23rd year of testing for the disease.

Good weather helped usher in muzzleloader season, which runs each year from the first Saturday in November through the Sunday after Thanksgiving. With Thanksgiving falling later in the month this year, muzzleloader season is an extra weekend longer this year.

Early November finds deer are in the middle of their breeding season, or rut. Bucks are generally more active and easier to hunt. But an abundance of acorns this year has meant deer don’t have to roam as much for food, Ferreira said. “Lot of acorns, more than I can ever remember,” he added.

DEM officials are planning to conduct an aerial monitoring survey this winter to calculate the size of the state’s deer population, which some estimates put over 20,000. In 2004, the deer herd across Rhode Island was estimated at nearly 16,000.

There were 1,347 deer vehicle collisions reported to DEM’s Division of Law Enforcement in 2023, an 11% decrease compared to 2022 when 1,544 deer auto strikes were reported. In 2023, the number of reported deer auto strikes was equivalent to 49% of the total reported hunter harvest.

___

Poaching in Rhode Island

Police have arrested one individual for illegal poaching in the woods of East Greenwich. Setting traps is illegal in Rhode Island, and a dog was captured and heard howling which got the attention of others. Haiming Li, of Hopkinton, had set traps not to capture deer for eating, but to prevent deer from going into the property owner’s garden. One deer died in the trap and another survived. The dog also survived and was treated by a veterinarian. Li was charged with 11 counts of ensnarling or baiting a deer.

___

Hunter Education

On December 15th, RI DEM will offer Hunter Certification from 8:00am to 6:00pm at 560 South County Trail, Exeter RI

Registration: https://forms.gle/LA214TbRgSvaAYEs5

IMPORTANT NOTES FOR STUDENTS:

• Please come prepared with a writing instrument and note taking material.
• Please bring snacks/lunch/drinks (non-alcoholic). 
• This class is in Building 1 of the complex (first right up the road)

Study Materials you can review beforehand:

• RI Regulation Guide:https://www.eregulations.com/rhodeisland/hunting 
• Today’s Hunter Book: Todays-Hunter-Northeast 
• Today’s Bowhunter Book: https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1668639900/rccsdorg/azf8d3r4motmyikx9nez/Todays-Bowhunter-Student-Manual.pdf

For any questions, please contact: Will Worthy – (401) 623-0605 – [email protected]

___

Charlotte Lester found by hunter

Some readers may recall the unsolved case of the disappearance of Charlotte Lester, and how police found her remains in Exeter 2 1/2 years later. On November 17th, a human skull was found in the Wood River/Arcadia Management area. In the November 21st issue of the East Greenwich News, it was reported that, “A hunter found the body of the Cowesett woman”. Mark Perkins, 64, was arrested without incident on Post Road in Warwick.

The identification of Charlotte’s body – and following arrest – gave some closure to her family – and the thousands who had scoured the woods in Warwick on a regular basis, searching for clues.

Kudos to the hunter who saw something – and said something.

___

Social Media Suspensions

As political persuasions change, the various social media outlets are changing what topics are ok, which ones are not tolerated, and even those that will end up with your account being suspended part time or permanently.

Recently Smith & Wesson posted this on “X”, formerly “Twitter”. They were suspended “indefinitely” on Facebook, and have no idea when it will be lifted.