Northern Rhode Island Conservation District -- Current Activities

Northern Rhode Island Conservation District

MEETINGS

Regular monthly board meetings are held the first Wednesday of each month at 7:00 PM at the NRICD Office, 17 Smith Avenue, Greenville, RI.

Meetings are open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.

Please call for directions and to be sure there has been no change in scheduled date or location.

All workshops and tours are free and require registration by calling the Northern Rhode Island Conservation District at 401-949-1480.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2010
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
SCITUATE RESERVOIR WATERSHED PUBLIC FIELD TOUR
Providence Water will be conducting its third and final field tour of 2010 in the Tunk Hill area of the watershed forest property on the west side of the reservoir in Scituate. A central theme of the walk will be white-tailed deer and their impacts on the landscape.

Providence Water has partnered with Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management to establish a Cooperative Deer Management Area on this wooded peninsula covering about 1,000 acres and surrounded by water on three sides. Through a permitting system, deer will be hunted for the first time on Providence Water land starting this fall. We will visit some small deer exclosures and talk about how they can be used in monitoring deer impacts as part of a vegetation monitoring program being set up by Thomas Rawinski, a botanist with the U.S. Forest Service. We will also look at a variety of non-native invasive plants and talk about different approaches to managing them. Other stops will include white pine and oak stands where we will discuss how overabundant deer are impacting them.

Reservations are required to join the field tour and can be made by registering online at the Providence Water website (http://www.provwater.com) or by calling Forest Supervisor Christopher Riely at (401) 521-6300 x 7313. An email address or phone number for each participant group is required in case it is necessary to contact registrants with additional information regarding the event. Both adults and children are welcome, but no pets please. The length of the walk is approximately 2 miles over rolling terrain and participants should wear sturdy shoes and dress appropriately for being outdoors.

We will meet at 9:00 AM on the east side of Tunk Hill Road (Route 12) at a gated entrance to the Providence Water property between telephone poles numbered 153-84 and 154-84, 0.5 mile north of the intersection with Matteson Road and 1.3 miles south of the intersection with Old Plainfield Pike. Participants will need to sign a liability release. In case of heavy rain, the field tour will be cancelled. Registrants will be notified if the event is postponed with an email or phone call by 4 PM on Friday, September 10.

The public watershed lands near the Scituate Reservoir are closed to unauthorized access for security reasons.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2010
7:00-9:00 PM
WELL WATER WORKSHOP
North Scituate Community House
546 West Greenville Road (Rte. 116)
North Scituate, RI
Featuring URI Home*a*Syst and RI Department of Health speakers.
Please call 401-874-4918 to register.