Megan Cotter is a clean water champion
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The award was presented at the organization’s annual
Breakfast of Champions event at the Edgewood Yacht Club in Cranston.
“Clean Water Action thanks Rep. Cotter for her strong
advocacy, especially with including $12 million in the most recent green bond.
Rep. Cotter has always been an environmental champion and working to prevent
forest fires. We appreciate her hard work and steadfastness,” said Emily M.
Howe, state director of Clean Water Action Rhode Island.
In her first year in the House in 2023, Representative Cotter (D-Dist. 39, Exeter, Richmond, Hopkinton) sponsored legislation that created a legislative commission to help the state determine the best action for improving forest management. In 2023 and 2024, she chaired that commission, which issued recommendations that included funding forest fire prevention programs and more forestry staff in the Department of Environmental Management, state and local collaboration to map accessible routes for firefighting in forested lands, and helping owners of forested lands to develop fire management plans.
Her leadership and advocacy helped add funding in the 2025
state budget for additional forest rangers at DEM, and led to the addition
of land conservation funding to the “green bond” approved
by voters in November 2024. This year she is sponsoring legislation seeking
additional forestry staff for DEM as well as legislation
expanding the state’s definition of farms to recognize smaller farms and more agricultural
activities, including forestry.
