Starting Saturday, beware of guys with guns (or bows) in the woods

Duck and cover as hunters start firing on Saturday

DEM news release:

With hunting season kicking off, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) reminds the public that it’s time to break out your finest fluorescent orange fashions for your fall forest frolicking. 

Yes, it clashes with everything, but it helps keep you safe. 

Starting this weekend with archery deer season, anyone in state management areas and undeveloped state parks during hunting season must wear 200 square inches (a hat or vest) of orange clothing from Saturday, Sept. 13 through Friday, Feb. 27. Archery hunters are exempt from this requirement during archery deer season. For more details, visit www.dem.ri.gov/orange. 

For a complete breakdown of hunting season dates, regulations, and a map of Deer Management Zones (DMZs), please review the 2025-26 Hunting and Trapping Regulation Guide available online at www.eregulations.com/rhodeisland/hunting and at local sales agents. 

For more information on DEM programs and initiatives, visit www.dem.ri.gov. Follow DEM on Facebook, Twitter (@RhodeIslandDEM), or Instagram (@rhodeisland.dem) for timely updates. Follow DFW on Facebook and Instagram (@ri.fishandwildlife) to stay up to date on news, events and volunteer opportunities. You can also subscribe to DFW’s monthly newsletter

Trump’s rollbacks and funding cuts are affecting your food, water, and air — even if you don’t realize it.

How Donald Trump is affecting Americans' everyday lives

Grist staff

The cost to Rhode Island so far

• Over 47,000 Rhode Islanders will lose health insurance
  
• 10,000 Rhode Islanders are at risk of losing food assistance
  
• Nearly 6,000 Rhode Islanders could lose their job
  
• Combined with Trump’s reckless tariff agenda, the median household in Rhode Island will lose $1,300
  
• Rhode Islanders’ electricity bills will rise by 10.5%
• Trump’s reckless tariffs have already cost Rhode Island businesses $231.9 million

Lucas Burtin / Grist

Over the last six months, Americans have been inundated with a near-constant stream of announcements from the federal government — programs shuttered, funding cut, jobs eliminated, and regulations gutted. 

Donald Trump and his administration are executing a systematic dismantling of the environmental, economic, and scientific systems that underpin our society. The onslaught can feel overwhelming, opaque, or sometimes even distant, but these policies will have real effects on Americans’ daily lives.

In this new guide, Grist examines the impact these changes could have, and are already having, on the things you do every day. Flipping on your lights. Turning on your faucet. Paying household bills. Visiting a park. Checking the weather forecast. Feeding your family.

The decisions have left communities less safe from pollution, more vulnerable to climate disasters, and facing increasingly expensive energy bills, among other changes. Read on to see how.

— Katherine Bagley 

Don't you just hate ticks!?

Ticks carry decades of history in each troublesome bite

Sean Lawrence, West Virginia University

When you think about ticks, you might picture nightmarish little parasites, stalking you on weekend hikes or afternoons in the park.

Your fear is well-founded. Tick-borne diseases are the most prevalent vector-borne diseases – those transmitted by living organisms – in the United States. 

Each tick feeds on multiple animals throughout its life, absorbing viruses and bacteria along the way and passing them on with its next bite. Some of those viruses and bacteria are harmful to humans, causing diseases that can be debilitating and sometimes lethal without treatment, such as Lyme, babesiosis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

But contained in every bite of this infuriating, insatiable pest is also a trove of social, environmental and epidemiological history.

In many cases, human actions long ago are the reason ticks carry these diseases so widely today. And that’s what makes ticks fascinating for environmental historians like me.

URI vertebrate expert offers guidance on ways to keep turtles and wildlife safe in summer

Let's start with not running them over with your car or lawn mower, and then more

Kristen Curry

Photo Tyler DeVos

It’s turtle season, according to a professor of natural resources science at the University of Rhode Island who specializes in reptiles and amphibians.

In southern New England, Eastern box turtles and other species of native turtles lay eggs in early summer, after becoming more active and sometimes crossing trails and roads, beginning in May. 

While watching for turtles on roadways during the summer months is one important way to preserve local turtle populations, New Englanders can help protect native turtles year-round with increased awareness.

At URI, conservation biologist Nancy Karraker focuses primarily on the consequences of environmental change for reptiles and amphibians. She has examined the impacts of habitat loss and degradation, pollution, climate change, invasive species, and disease on biodiversity in North America and Southeast Asia, and consults and collaborates across the country and around the world.

Her work is applied science, she says.

“It’s not enough to say, ‘watch out for turtles on roads,’” she says, “though we do want people to do that.”

Scientists warn of bat virus just one mutation from infecting humans

Don't worry - Bobby Junior will protect us

Washington State University

A group of bat viruses closely related to the deadly Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) could be one small mutation away from being capable of spilling over into human populations and potentially causing the next pandemic.

A recent study published in the journal Nature Communications examined an understudied group of coronaviruses known as merbecoviruses -- the same viral subgenus that includes MERS-CoV -- to better understand how they infect host cells. The research team, which included scientists at Washington State University, the California Institute of Technology and the University of North Carolina, found that while most merbecoviruses appear unlikely to pose a direct threat to people, one subgroup known as HKU5 possesses concerning traits.

"Merbecoviruses - and HKU5 viruses in particular - really hadn't been looked at much, but our study shows how these viruses infect cells," said Michael Letko, a virologist at WSU's College of Veterinary Medicine who helped to spearhead the study. "What we also found is HKU5 viruses may be only a small step away from being able to spill over into humans."

During the past two decades, scientists have cataloged the genetic sequences of thousands of viruses in wild animals, but, in most cases, little is known about whether these viruses pose a threat to humans. Letko's lab in WSU's Paul G. Allen School for Global Health focuses on closing that gap and identifying potentially dangerous viruses.

The rise and fall – and rise again – of white-tailed deer

Beautiful creatures!

Elic Weitzel, Smithsonian Institution

Photo by Will Collette

Given their abundance in American backyards, gardens and highway corridors these days, it may be surprising to learn that white-tailed deer were nearly extinct about a century ago. While they currently number somewhere in the range of 30 million to 35 million, at the turn of the 20th century, there were as few as 300,000 whitetails across the entire continent: just 1% of the current population.

This near-disappearance of deer was much discussed at the time. In 1854, Henry David Thoreau had written that no deer had been hunted near Concord, Massachusetts, for a generation. In his famous “Walden,” he reported that:

“One man still preserves the horns of the last deer that was killed in this vicinity, and another has told me the particulars of the hunt in which his uncle was engaged. The hunters were formerly a numerous and merry crew here.”

But what happened to white-tailed deer? What drove them nearly to extinction, and then what brought them back from the brink?

As a historical ecologist and environmental archaeologist, I have made it my job to answer these questions. Over the past decade, I’ve studied white-tailed deer bones from archaeological sites across the eastern United States, as well as historical records and ecological data, to help piece together the story of this species.

Pretty but dangerous

URI invasives expert studies a problematic plant

Kristen Curry

While fires can be caused for a variety of reasons, manmade
and natural, invasive phragmites, like these in Charlestown,
sometimes pose an overlooked risk. (URI Photos / Laura Meyerson)

Laura Meyerson was stepping through a marsh on the Housatonic River in Connecticut on a picture-perfect day as a young graduate student, when an offhand remark changed her whole outlook on the landscape in front of her.

Meyerson was observing a beautiful scenic outlook overlooking cattails. Then her professor made a comment that stopped her in her tracks. He pointed out that the scene was pretty, but that the nearby invasive reeds were going to wipe out the native muskrats. The day became a turning point in her career.

“I knew then I wanted to study this plant species,” Meyerson recalls.

Meyerson, today a professor of natural resources science at the University of Rhode Island, would like to see other New Englanders recognize the ubiquitous plant known as Phragmites australis growing by roadways and ponds for what it is.

Meyerson’s research on invasive species is global in nature, taking her to Iceland this fall. After getting her Ph.D., Meyerson worked in biosecurity for the Environmental Protection Agency and consulted with Homeland Security on pathogens that could cripple the U.S. food supply. She has served on the U.S. National Invasive Species Council Advisory Committee, is co-editor for the journal Biological Invasions, and has conducted research on invasive species at the Smithsonian Institution.

Meyerson finds many reasons to be concerned about invasive species. The fire risk posed by phragmites is just one. She says that while local fire departments are aware of the plant’s risk, those living or working near large stands of the plants may not be.

Carolina Trout Pond gets bombed next week

Aquatic Weed Treatments Scheduled for Carolina Trout and Shippee Sawmill Ponds on June 9

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) will treat Carolina Trout Pond in Richmond and Shippee Sawmill Pond in Foster on Monday, June 9 to control invasive aquatic plants. Anglers and boaters should avoid these ponds during treatment. 

Signs will be posted with temporary water use restrictions. Residents and visitors should keep pets from drinking the water for at least three days.

These treatments target invasive plants including variable water milfoil, fanwort, water hyacinth, and waterlily. It will not harm fish or other aquatic life. Both ponds are popular fishing and boating spots and are stocked with trout several times during the season.

Invasive aquatic plants are harmful to fishing, boating, swimming and impacts wildlife management. 

If you see Bambi, don't touch

Keep Your Paws Off Wildlife

Don't touch the bunnies either

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) again urges the public not to interfere with baby wild animals, especially fawns, which are often mistakenly thought to be abandoned. 

Fawns lying quietly in grass are not orphaned and should be left alone, because moving or handling them may separate them from their mother and jeopardize their life.

“In nature, it’s normal for a fawn to be hidden in grass or brush for the first week after birth, as it can’t yet follow its mother,” said Dylan Ferreira, a wildlife biologist in DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW). 

“Sometimes well-intentioned people wrongly assume that a fawn is abandoned and take it home and try to rescue it, but the mother is usually nearby and returns to feed it. If you see a fawn alone, please leave it alone – it does not need help and should not be handled.”  

“DEM stresses that wildlife is beautiful but should always be enjoyed from afar,” said RI State Veterinarian Dr. Scott Marshall. 

“Never approach wild animals and certainly never touch them. Handling mammals is always a potential rabies exposure. Once people handle or have contact with these animals, public health officials are compelled to test the animal for rabies, which requires that the animal be humanely dispatched because testing requires brain tissue.”   

While some may be tempted to feed deer, feeding wildlife is illegal in Rhode Island and harmful. It can cause digestive problems, spread disease, attract more wildlife than the area can support, and lead to conflicts with humans.  

TNC announces acquisition of two parcels, expanding the Canonchet Brook Preserve, where trailhead improvements are underway.

The Nature Conservancy Protects 43 Acres in Hopkinton, RI

By Tim Mooney

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) announced  that it has acquired two properties in central Hopkinton, boosting the protection of a large wildlife habitat conservation area near the Rhode Island-Connecticut border.

TNC purchased the first property for $370,000, adding 25 acres to the Canonchet Brook Preserve’s north side. The RI Department of Environmental Management (DEM) contributed a $185,000 Open Space Grant from the 2022 Green Bond in exchange for a conservation easement, which provides further legal protection for the land. TNC matched the state’s funds with support from the Bafflin Foundation, the Thomas and Dorothy Ginty Memorial Endowment Fund and the William P. Wharton Trust.

The second property, an 18-acre wooded parcel, was donated by St. John’s Church of Providence, following the subdivision and removal of two small lots with frontage on Stubtown Road.

Both properties are forested with a diverse mix of oaks, tulip poplars and other hardwoods, with exposed bedrock ledges and dense thickets of mountain laurel. They also contain small headwater streams that feed Canonchet Brook, an important tributary of the Wood-Pawcatuck National Wild and Scenic River.

RI DEM announces summer schedule of education programs

Coyotes, Bumblebees, Dragonflies, and Bats, Oh My!

Have some fun in the sun by attending an educational program with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management’s (DEM) Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW)! Get outdoors while learning new skills; from fishing days to hunter education classes to guided walks, there’s something for everyone. Join DFW’s Aquatic Resource Education, Hunter Education, Wildlife Outreach and volunteer staff to learn, explore, and enjoy! Most programs being offered this summer are free and family friendly. A list of programs and registration information are listed below:

There is NO energy emergency

Attorney General Neronha joins coalition to challenge Trump’s fake “energy emergency”

Steve Ahlquist

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha joined a coalition of 15 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit challenging the President’s false “energy emergency,” declared to line the pockets of Big Oil by handing out free passes to pollute the environment.

Donald Trump declared a “national energy emergency” under the National Emergencies Act on Inauguration Day. Congress passed the National Emergencies Act in 1976 to prevent presidents from declaring national emergencies for frivolous or partisan matters — exactly what the President has done here.

“We know that this President has a very tenuous relationship with the truth, so it should come as no surprise that he fabricated an ‘emergency’ to get his way,” said Attorney General Neronha. 

“Here’s the truth: if we don’t do everything within our power to address climate change, including spearheading the transition to clean and renewable energy sources, future generations will suffer the irreparable consequences. Under this executive order, fossil fuel producers would be allowed to extract from anywhere they see fit while bypassing important environmental and historical reviews, thereby disrupting and destroying the land and habitats of Americans and wildlife alike. We must stop the illegal, unnecessary actions of this President before it’s too late.”

At the direction of the President, federal agencies are bypassing or shortening critical reviews under the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and the Historic National Preservation Act for energy projects. These laws play a critical role in protecting the environment and human health.

R.I. environmental police are finally staffing up

No surprise: better pay and benefits improve recruitment

By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

Rhode Island’s state environmental police force has been troubled by vacancies for at least 20 years.

But not for much longer. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Division of Law Enforcement is poised to reach its full 32-person staff for the first time since Deputy Chief Mike Schipritt began working there in 2005.

Schipritt, who was promoted to deputy chief in 2024, will get a break from the endless hiring paperwork. More importantly, he won't have to struggle so much over how to deploy critical environmental guardians across the sprawling landscape of state-owned land and waters. 

Forensics in Charlestown Forest

Clues left behind by glaciers

By Mike Freeman / ecoRI News contributor

Pitch pines in the Francis Carter Preserve in Charlestown, R.I.
 (Tom Mooney/TNC)

Surrounded by pitch pines, The Nature Conservancy’s Tim Mooney looked across the Pawcatuck River’s south bank in the Francis Carter Preserve. Pointing at the forest 10 feet closer to sea level than the pines, he noted the different tree composition across the river.

“That’s a floodplain forest,” he said. “Pin oaks mixed with red maple. When the glacier retreated, a meltwater river likely piled sand here before the moraine, which these pines tolerate, while the lower plain became swampy and friendlier to the forest community across from us.”

Later, Mooney pointed to shade-tolerant hemlocks growing along one of the Charlestown Moraine’s north-facing nooks. Along a 2-mile line he showed a series of vernal pools strung along the same side. Atop the moraine he noted ghostly oak trunks lingering from spongy moth outbreaks. The moraine, he said, provides much of southern Rhode Island’s meek incline along with the well-drained soils favorable to its prominent oak forests.

Though the Wisconsin ice sheet departed around 15,000 years ago, vestiges are especially visible in southern Rhode Island, not far from where the ice pushed up Long Island, Block Island, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket before retreating. When the glaciers left, returning plant communities sorted themselves according to the soils and landscape features they found.

Birds! And more

 

Three Upcoming Events   All WPWA Events and Registration on Eventbrite.com, Click Here  Map and Compass Workshop Thursday May 1st 6-9pm, and Saturday, May 3rd 9am-3pm Registration closes this Monday! There are still spots available to add skills to your off-trail adventures. Do you like to get out and explore, but worry about your skills to find your way back? Join the Narragansett Chapter of the AMC and the Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association for a two-part course to read and understand maps and use a compass correctly. Class will be on Thursday May 1, 2025 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM at Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association Campus, Hope Valley, RI. For Thursday class, dress for the weather, part of the class will be held outdoors, as conditions permit. Topics include reading map symbols and contour lines, matching the terrain to the map, taking and using bearings, orienting map and compass, declination, determining your location and planning your route. Field Practice will be on Saturday May 3, 9:00 AM - 3 PM at Arcadia Management Area in Exeter, RI. Information about Saturday’s field practice will be provided in the class notes. The morning session will allow participants to practice their new skills. After lunch they will plan and then execute a bushwhack route through the woods. Instructors include experienced AMC Narragansett Chapter Northern Hikes Leaders. Participants should bring a base-plate style compass with an adjustable declination feature and plan to attend both dates. More details on Eventbrite link below. Register Prior to April 28th. Cost: $29.00 fee, payable on Eventbrite Register Here Birding by Kayak... During Migration! Saturday, May 3rd 10am-1pm (rain date, Sunday May 4th) Just 5 spots left for this kayak trip! Enjoy the height of bird migration on a pristine river, centrally located in Rhode Island. Expert birder from the Ocean State Bird Club pairs up with naturalist and kayaking guide from the Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association. All kayaking gear is provided, this stretch of river begins as very wide and forgiving. The group may meander up a tighter stretch of river. Rare birds are often heard in this nationally designated Wood-Pawcatuck Wild and Scenic River System. Reserve both Saturday, May 3rd and rain/heavy wind date of Sunday, May 4th. Kassi@wpwa.org will send an email Thursday informing participants when the event will take place. The event is 10am till 1pm at the Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association. Bring food, a water bottle and dress for the early spring weather. Suggestions on what to bring and expect are in an email confirmation. Limited to 20 participants so that we can best hear the birds. Cost is $45 for OSBC or WPWA Members, $55 for non-members. Kayaks, life jackets and gear are included. Kayaks can often be managed by children 10 years old and up. Canoes and tandem kayaks are also available, great for an adult to share with a child under 11. Scroll down on the registration link to see this additional option. For More Information Contact: Kassi Donnelly: kassi@wpwa.org PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED. Register Here Audubon Raptor Encounter at WPWA Sunday, June 1st, 10am-11am  In a close, quiet setting at the WPWA Campus, educators from the Audubon Society of Rhode Island will share three birds of prey.  Razor-sharp talons, extraordinary strength, hooked beaks, and highly developed eyesight and hearing make raptors the rulers of the avian world. Audubon Raptor Encounters are awe-inspiring events for all ages. Owls, hawks and falcons with razor-sharp talons and extraordinary adaptations fascinate both children and adults alike. Through demonstrations, photographs and biofacts, attendees learn how the structure and functions of these birds helps them survive. Predator/prey dynamics and the importance of habitat are emphasized as well. Description adapted from ASRI.org. Learn more about their animal ambassadors here: https://asri.org/learn/ambassadors.html  As an audience member, expect to provide a quiet space with limited movement to respect the birds. We don't want to cause stress and discomfort. The Audubon Educator does engage the audience in discussion, and the animal ambassador can be easily seen from a safe distance of 10 feet or more.  Cost is $20 for non-members, $15 for WPWA members and free for Otter / Osprey WPWA Members. Date and Time: Sunday, June 1, 10-11am (please arrive 15 minutes early, and quietly for birds) Location: WPWA Campus in Hope Valley, RI  Registration is required, and participation is limited to 30. Register Here

Our Contact Information Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association 203 Arcadia Road Hope Valley, RI 02832 401-539-9017 http://www.wpwa.org

Bunnies for biodiversity

Saving the imperiled New England cottontail rabbit

B y Anna Gray, College of the Environment and Life Sciences

Eastern cottontail (left) and near twin New England cottontail

Spring is in the air: the days are longer, the weather is warmer, and you might be noticing more rabbits hopping through your backyard. 

While adorable, the wild ones we see most frequently in New England are invasive Eastern cottontails, which were introduced to the area in the 1930s primarily to benefit hunters. The native species, New England cottontails, are considered vulnerable because of their decreasing population.

New England’s native cottontail rabbits are considered vulnerable because of their decreasing population.

Alex Rebelo and Alannah Lee, both animal science and technology majors, are working on conservation efforts alongside Justin Richard, assistant professor in the Department of Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Science, to ensure more New England cottontails are born and released into the wild every year to support declining populations and establish new ones. “Increasing the population of the only cottontail species of cottontail native to New England is important for biodiversity,” says Rebelo, noting their importance for a healthy and balanced ecosystem. 

Also let RFK Jr. where he can find his lunch

Reporting ‘Rhode Kill:’ New study calls on citizen scientists

DEM issues new rules to allow you to eat what you find

Anna Gray, URI College of the Environment and Life Sciences. 

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, there are more than one million wildlife vehicle collisions in the United States annually with significant personal and economic costs: they result in approximately 200 deaths and 26,000 injuries to drivers and passengers and cost more than $8 billion annually. 

Kathleen Carroll, assistant professor of applied quantitative ecology in the University of Rhode Island’s  Department of Natural Resources Science, is working on a solution to make roads safer for both wildlife and humans that will utilize the help of citizen scientists.

Rhode Islanders can now report roadkill that they hit or observe using a QR-code generated survey, also available online. The public’s participation will ultimately inform research efforts to mitigate risks for both drivers and animals.

URI-based team rewrites the book on animal schedule beliefs, based on captured data

When the wild things are

Kristen Curry 

A URI-led team has gathered photographic data on daily
mammalian activity, studying 445 total species around the
world with surprising results. (URI Photos)

Animal antics have captured public attention and viral views across the U.S. in the last few years with the advent of mini cameras that capture the movements of animals in front yards nationwide, from bear to deer.

A University of Rhode Island-based group has taken the camera concept one step further and then some, generating a massive dataset of animal images, not for entertainment, but for science.

A host of camera sets in Rhode Island added to the data gathered in a highly collaborative project producing a massive dataset of animal images worldwide.

When the Global Animal Diel Activity Project results were analyzed, researchers made some unique discoveries.

Put together, researchers across the country and around the world generated a more focused picture of animal habits at various times of day. The team created a camera trap dataset from 20,080 camera sites across 38 countries in six continents. They gathered and analyzed data on more than 400 mammal species, representing one of the largest camera trap datasets in existence.

DEM announces spring lineup of educational programs

Includes March 12 program at Cross Mills Library

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) has another season of great spring programs scheduled to connect Rhode Islanders with our state’s beautiful natural resources. 

From Vernal pool and sky dance nights to learning the ins and outs of spring turkey hunting. DFW’s Aquatic Resource Education, Hunter Education, Wildlife Outreach and Volunteer programs have planned a schedule with plenty of opportunities to learn about Rhode Island’s fish and wildlife resources or to try out a new outdoor skill. Most of the programs being offered this winter are free of charge and family friendly. 

Wildlife Outreach Programs: 

Wildlife Management Areas 101 

Whether you love hiking, biking, fishing, hunting, birdwatching, or horseback riding, RI’s Wildlife Management Areas are beautiful places to explore and enjoy nature! While these conservation lands are open to the public, there are some rules visitors need to follow to keep both people and wildlife safe. Join DFW’s outreach team for an intro to state lands, wildlife conservation in RI, and ways to access your state’s natural resources! This program is FREE, but registration is required so that staff can prepare materials. 

• Date: Wednesday, March 12 
• Time: 6:30 – 7:30 PM 
• Location: Cross’ Mills Library  
• Age: Adults 
• Register here: https://forms.office.com/g/sncsjctkpm 

Coexisting with Coyotes 

Coyotes are greatly misunderstood, but most of their fear-instilling actions are simply a part of their life history and strategy for survival. Still, these critters can become a nuisance, especially if they begin to den under decks and dine out of chicken coops. Learning why these creatures behave the way they do is the key to finding resolution. Join DFW to learn about coyote natural history, discoveries made by the Narragansett Bay Coyote Study, and ways to coexist with them.   

• Date: Thursday, March 13
• Time: 6 – 7:30 PM
• Location: Jesse M. Smith Memorial Library 
• Age: Adults 
• Register here: https://forms.office.com/g/VEqucJvmJS