Protecting Ocean Resources
Rhode Island’s ocean is a vital source of jobs, food, recreation, and transportation – and it’s key to developing the state’s clean energy economy. To help guide decisions about how we use our ocean areas today and into the future, the state created the Ocean Special Area Management Plan.
CLF in Action
CLF was an active player in ocean planning processes throughout New England. Better planning helps ensure that our oceans and coasts are healthy, rare ocean wildlife and important habitats are protected, and renewable energy growth does not come at the expense of fragile marine areas.
In Rhode Island, the Ocean Special Area Management Plan, or SAMP, is a comprehensive blueprint for how the state manages and protects its ocean waters, which are among the most productive in New England. The SAMP has already been put into practice, providing a straightforward process for the siting and approval of Deepwater Wind’s 30-megawatt wind project off the coast of Block Island.
We all have a say in how our ocean resources will be used, and ocean planning helps to ensure that all voices are heard. CLF was proud to be part of the stakeholder group that helped to shape Rhode Island’s SAMP, and we will continue to track its success in ensuring a healthy and thriving Ocean State for years to come.
A Plan for Protection
The SAMP provides strong protection of Rhode Island’s underwater habitats, in particular its rocky moraines that are so critical to the diversity of ocean plants and wildlife. The Plan also establishes a standard of environmental review that discourages harmful development and ocean uses – sand and gravel mining, dredging, and other development activities that could threaten these unique offshore areas.
The SAMP doesn’t stop with protecting resources, however. It also provides guidance on how to harness ocean resources, including identifying a renewable energy zone to ensure new offshore wind energy projects are appropriately sited.
Rhode Island was also the first state in the nation to extend its ocean planning into federal waters. The state has standing to review federal projects and activities proposed for the area it mapped, providing even greater protection to fragile habitats.
