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Outdoors in RI: The Eagle has landed, Holiday shopping, Conservation, Audubon campaign, 2A
by Nancy Thomas. Photo, top: WP
A smorgasbord of environmental/outdoors news this week!
First, The Preserve Sporting Club & Resort has expanded its Sporting Shoppe which offers items for retail sale, from clothing to sports items, and even has an interactive area for children. See out story, yesterday – here – so take that last minute shopping list and visit – say RINewsToday sent you!
https://rinewstoday.com/business-beat-the-preserve-sporting-club-resort-expands-its-sporting-shoppe/
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American Bald Eagle to be named the official NATIONAL BIRD
No! We never had a National Bird. And – no! The American Bald Eagle had no official “bird” title. Until now. The bill – see below – has passed both the House and Senate and is set to be signed by the President of the United States. It will declare the American Bald Eagle as the official National Bird of the United State of America.
The bill was introduced by Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith. “The bald eagle is a symbol of our country’s freedom and strength,” Klobuchar said in a statement. “With the passage of our legislation, the bald eagle will now officially be recognized as our nation’s national bird.”
Symbol of America: “By officially designating the Bald Eagle as our national bird, Congress would reaffirm our nation’s dedication to conservation and environmental stewardship while honoring a symbol that holds a special place in the hearts of Americans nationwide, said John Wodele, Co-Chair of the National Bird Initiative for the National Eagle Center.
“Through concerted conservation measures and the enactment of legislation such as the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the Bald Eagle population has rebounded, symbolizing our commitment to preserving our natural heritage for future generations,” said Jack Davis, Co-Chair of the National Bird Initiative for the National Eagle Center.
Given the performance of Congress in 2024, we rate this right up there with their biggest accomplishments!
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Shellfish areas open up again
The RI DEM is announcing that the emergency closure of Upper Narragansett Bay shellfish ‘Area A’ and ‘Area B’ will end TODAY, Friday, Dec. 20. The emergency closure was put in place after last week’s heavy rain. Water samples collected this week demonstrated that bacteria levels in both areas have returned to levels that support safe shellfish harvest, allowing them to reopen for shellfish harvest at sunrise tomorrow. Other conditionally approved shellfish areas in Upper Narragansett Bay remain closed.
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Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust, Tiverton
The RI DEM and the Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust in partnership with Bally’s Corporation today announced the permanent conservation of 38.27 acres of Atlantic White Cedar forest in Tiverton. The forest is part of the Pocasset Cedar Swamp off Bears Den Road in North Tiverton. This land is a portion of a large Atlantic White Cedar swamp, which is a globally imperiled forest species, particularly under threat from sea level rise in the mid-Atlantic Region of the United States.
Atlantic White Cedar forests have an extensive history of commercial harvesting and today make up only a small percentage of forest cover in the region. Over the past century alone, Atlantic White Cedar forests across the Atlantic seaboard have been considerably degraded and reduced. Coupled with its important natural resource value, the Pocasset Cedar Swamp has inherent cultural and sacred value to the Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe of the Pokanoket Nation who are the ancestral peoples of the greater Tiverton and Fall River area. During King Phillip’s War, this land was the site of The Battle of Pocasset Swamp in which both Sachem Weetamoo and King Phillip (Chief Metacomet) fought.
“This land is significant as the ancestral heartbeat of the Pocasset Pokanoket people,” said Chief George Spring Buffalo, Chairman of the Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe of the Pokanoket Nation. “This is the site of King Phillip’s War, one of the most devastating conflicts to native people in American history. We will create trails, explore the lands, and discover what our ancestors left us there. DEM was an honest partner through this process, and we’re looking forward to more collaborations with them.”
“We are excited to be working in partnership with the Pocasset Pokanoket Tribe and believe firmly in this project and the public benefit of protecting the Pocasset Cedar Swamp,” said DEM Director Terry Gray. “Rhode Islanders are proud to be a diverse people, with diverse cultures and we celebrate our tribal communities.”
The purchase price for the almost 40-acre property was $60,000. A $40,000 grant committed in 2022 through DEM’s competitive Local Open Space Grant Program was integral in financing the project. Funds for the Local Open Space Grant Program are made possible by voter-approved Green Economy Bonds.
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Re-Power Audubon: “Climate Change serious threat to our birds, our state, our world”
Over one-third of all birds breeding on wildlife refuges are experiencing long-term decline and are at high risk of losing their homes and food sources due to climate change. Science highlights the problem, and Audubon is working on the solutions. The group says, “To avoid catastrophic climate change, everyone must rapidly reduce the amount of planet-warming emissions they produce. The best way to do that is to electrify everything, and get our electricity from fossil fuel-free sources.“
By 2030 Audubon will electrify its buildings, vehicles, and grounds equipment, and add enough solar panels at our facilities to produce the same amount of electricity as we consume. This will get us to “net-zero”.
By 2040 we will move further, running 24/7/365 off clean electricity. We’re calling this “true-zero,” – the goal we must all reach if we are to halt, and reverse, global warming.
Audubon’s Plan:
The Roadmap to Net-Zero
- Update plumbing, electrical, and heating systems that will make Audubon facilities more energy efficient and save thousands of dollars a year. Completion: 2027
- Install heat pumps that run on electricity, rather than natural gas, propane, or oil, and to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Completion: 2028
- Generate the amount of energy used by the organization by adding ground and roof-mounted solar arrays and two parking lot solar canopies. Completion: 2029
- Spread the word about the benefits of clean energy to Audubon members, visitors, and the public through signage, education programs, and focused workshops for nonprofit and small business leaders interested in going net-zero. Completion: 2040.
- Invest in battery storage after 2030 to use only our own generated power and meet the goal of true-zero emissions by 2040. Completion: 2040
The campaign seeks to raise $4,250,000 towards this effort and says it has now raised just over 7% of their goal.
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A 2A update
In a Boston Globe story, Sen. Dominic Ruggerio said “he wasn’t immediately ruling out a ban on so-called assault-style weapons in 2025, which Governor Dan McKee intends to include in his budget proposal in January. Ruggerio has long been viewed by the National Rifle Association and other firearms advocates as a firewall in the Senate against an assault weapons ban, and he repeatedly said that type of law should come from the federal level. ”That is my former position,” he said this week. The AFL-CIO, which is under the new leadership of Pat Crowley, has made it a top priority to ban assault-style weapons, and there’s clearly support from the majority of Democrats in both chambers. McKee’s announcement that he would include the ban in his budget is very much a line in the sand. You’re also going to see a big push from advocates like Everytown for Gun Safety, the well-funded group founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. They’ve established a new political action committee in Rhode Island to support — and protect — candidates who support gun safety issues.”
Seems like if the initiative gets out of committee, it stands every chance of passing.
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Ocean State Tactical SCOTUS Case, late January:
An update on the status of several gun cases headed to the US Supreme Court including
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Rhode Island receives an A- from GIFFORDS Law Center’s Annual Scorecard for leading gun safety laws
GIFFORDS Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence released the latest edition of its Annual Gun Law Scorecard, which grades and ranks each state on the strength of its gun laws. The comprehensive, 50-state analysis reflects that states with stronger gun laws have lower gun death rates and save lives. This year, Rhode Island received an A-. In 2024, Rhode Island enacted a safe storage law.
“Rhode Island has some of the lowest gun death rates in the country, and that is no coincidence. Rhode Island’s A- grade on the GIFFORDS Annual Scorecard is proof of how effective commonsense gun laws are in saving lives. Americans care about safety—every family wants to know that they are free to live peacefully without the constant fear of gun violence hanging over their heads. Fortunately, we have a roadmap to that reality,” said Emma Brown, Executive Director of GIFFORDS.
“While we celebrate the gains made in states like Rhode Island, there is still crucial work ahead of us. 2024 saw more than 400 mass shootings in a single year. From tragedies that rock the nation, like the one that took place at Apalachee High School, to the one that took place just yesterday at Abundant Life Christian School, to the thousands of firearm suicides every year, lawmakers must take action to save lives—and they must do it now.”