Wildlife protection assessed

FLYING AWAY: The decline in population of Saltmarsh Sparrows and other species in Rhode Island could have an impact on the state’s wildlife tourism, according to the head of The Nature Conservancy. / COURTESY PETER PATON
FLYING AWAY: The decline in population of Saltmarsh Sparrows and other species in Rhode Island could have an impact on the state’s wildlife tourism, according to the head of The Nature Conservancy. / COURTESY PETER PATON

The population of Saltmarsh Sparrows is declining in Rhode Island with the loss of salt marshes due to sea-level rise – and that’s a potential concern to not only naturalists but the state’s tourism industry as well, says Scott Comings, director of land and freshwater conservation for The Nature Conservancy.
The Saltmarsh Sparrow is just one of 505 species of wildlife that state scientists have identified as “species of greatest conservation need” during the first phase of work on Rhode Island’s 2015 Wildlife Action Plan.
“I think that sea-level rise and loss of salt marshes is happening more rapidly than people thought it would,” said University of Rhode Island professor of wildlife biology Peter Paton, one of many scientists and environmental officials in the state collaborating on the Wildlife Action Plan.
“Saltmarsh Sparrows are only found in New England salt marshes,” said Paton. “The population of Saltmarsh Sparrows is declining so dramatically that some [who study them] are suggesting that in 30-50 years they could be gone.”
One of the main purposes of the Wildlife Action Plan is to determine how to minimize the loss of habitat for the sparrow and many other species in the state, said Paton.
The 2015 plan will serve as a guide for residents, businesses and officials over a 10-year period, said Comings. The Nature Conservancy is partnering with the R.I. Department of Environmental Management and URI to develop the 2015 Wildlife Action Plan, being updated from the 2005 version. The decade-long plan is the structure determined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Development, population growth and climate change are some of the elements taken into consideration when planning for the protection of wildlife habitats.
The 2005 version is “about 4-inches thick,” said Comings, and the working draft of the 2015 plan is already very detailed.
“We’ve identified 505 species in the categories of fish, birds, mammals, invertebrates, and amphibians and reptiles … as ‘species of greatest conservation need,’ ” said Comings. “We have five teams of scientists who have been working over the past year and a half to identify these species, the threats to them and the possible ways to avoid or lessen the impact of the threats.” The working draft is expected to be offered for public comment in early 2014, he said.
Rhode Island’s economy benefits from protected areas, Comings said.
“The majority of our conservation lands are open to the public and that’s a huge asset to the Rhode Island tourism industry,” he said.
“The Nature Conservancy has 65 miles of trails on our properties,” said Comings. “On Block Island alone there are 28 miles of trails and that’s constantly mentioned as one of the big attractions for tourists.”
The abundance of lands for hunting and fishing are another advantage for the state’s economy, he said.
“Outfitting for hunting and fishing is big in Rhode Island,” he said.
While business development can sometimes appear to be to at odds with the protection of natural lands, Comings added he’s found widespread support for conservation in the Ocean State.
“In little Rhode Island, we have a large amount of valuable environmental resources. We have a very large, undeveloped forest area that’s about two-thirds in Rhode Island and one-third in Connecticut,” he said. “It’s a huge plus, identified as regionally important, with lots of species found only in that area. We have 400 miles of rocky shoreline that’s habitat for a host of shorebirds.”
The voluminous 2005 plan has deterred some in the state from using it as frequently as it could be used, said Comings.
“With the 2015 plan, we’re going to have a small companion guide with photos and maps that will be more interesting and easy to use,” said Comings. “It will have references to the larger plan, with page numbers, if people want more information.”
The updating of the 2005 plan is required to maintain federal funding coming into the state for the Wildlife Action Plan, as well as additional annual funding for its implementation, said Veronica Masson, federal-aid program coordinator for the Department of Environmental Management’s Division of Fish and Wildlife. The Ocean State got a three-year grant of $369,000 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop the plan, Masson said. That funding, which runs from 2011 through 2014, is for the basic study of wildlife, threats to species and research on options for habitat preservation.
But along with the decline of the Saltmarsh Sparrow is the decline of annual federal funds used for projects to carry out the plan.
The annual federal funding for implementation of the plan has dropped from $776,000 in 2002 to $278,000 in 2013, said Masson.
“The Wildlife Action Plan is to guide how the funds will be spent,” said Masson. “The funds are an appropriation through Congress, so they vary from year to year.
“It’s frustrating because we have invested a lot of energy in developing these plans and then the federal money to implement them is drying up,” said Masson.
That required state match for the federal funds used to be 50 percent, but has decreased to 35 percent in the last couple of years, she said.
So while the state matching funds are smaller, there’s less money to work with overall.
Rhode Island’s 2015 Wildlife Action Plan is expected to be completed by the end of the grant period, at the close of 2014, Masson said.
The coming year will bring in the perspectives of businesses, residents and localities to develop the final plan.
“Communities have to plan for their future. This plan will help them make informed decisions,” said Cathy Sparks, DEM assistant director for natural resources.
“We want this plan to be a useful and frequently referenced document that will help the citizens,” said Sparks. “Our quality of life in Rhode Island is tied to the diverse life that lives around us.” •

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