Work has begun on the 4 year restoration of the salt marsh and meadows at Sowams Meadows Preserve on Market St. The restoration effort is a partnership between the Warren Land Conservation Trust, (WLCT) the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the USDA (NRCS), and Save the Bay. An initial mowing of the existing fields is complete and now we are working on removing invasive trees and vines from the borders of the fields. The work is being done by crews from Staton’s Landscaping in Warren under contract with NRCS. We will be working in the marsh as well to improve conditions there and starting a multi-year effort to transform the old hay fields into diverse native pollinator habitats. The full restoration plan is available here
Category: 2022 News and Events
Introducing our New Executive Director
We are delighted to announce that Paul Miller has accepted our offer to become Executive Director for WLCT. Paul has a long career as a biologist working on various research and conservation projects in Florida, California, Louisiana, New Jersey, and New England. He worked extensively to monitor and protect the endangered Florida Grasshopper Sparrow at the Kissimmee Prairie Preserve in Okeechobee, Florida. He also was Executive Director of The Island Heritage Trust in Deer Isle, Maine for over two years. He most recently worked with the Seekonk Land Trust as their Stewardship Coordinator. Paul brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to WLCT, which will help us as we strive to be responsible stewards of the properties in our care.
Paul is a native Rhode Islander and lived in Warren until his high school years. We are glad he found his way home again. He received his bachelor’s and Master’s in Environmental Science and Sustainable Natural Resource Management from Unity College in Maine. He lives in North Kingstown, RI with his wife Sue, a physician.
Join WLCT for our 2nd Annual Moonlight Bay Cruise
Mark your calendars!
Last summer’s Moonlight Cruise on Narragansett Bay was
a magical evening.
This year’s cruise – again on the Prudence Island Ferry – will be on
Wed, Aug 10, 2022
(rain date Thu, Aug 11).
Last year’s cruise was great fun and enjoyed by all including
Music! Dancing!
Beautiful sunset! & Exquisite Moonrise!
as we savored our picnics on the Prudence Island Ferry.
This year’s event is
the place to be!
Get your tickets now!
Celebrate the Return of the Ospreys – Sunday, April 24
Spring Comes to Jacob’s Point and Haile Farm
WLCT members were busy this past weekend welcoming the spring season. We held a “Say Goodbye to Winter” walk at Jacob’s Point and successfully dodged the rain showers on Saturday. On Sunday, the Purple Martin Array was reinstalled at Jacob’s Point, and the volunteers who maintain the array and catalog the successful hatchings are looking forward to another good year. Out at Haile Farm Preserve, a volunteer team installed 6 new sections of boardwalk on the trail across the marsh to bridge some very muddy sections that have developed over the winter. More work will be done on additional boardwalk sections in the coming weeks to make the trails easier for people to use and enjoy. So things are getting spruced up and we are all looking forward to the return of the Ospreys in the near future. It is a good time to get out and see what is springing up. Thanks to all the volunteers who did such great work!!
Rising Seas: Envisioning the Future Ocean State
Imago Foundation for the Arts (IFA) is issuing a juried Call for Art to Rhode Island artists called “Rising Seas: Envisioning the Future Ocean State.” The work will be on view at Imago Gallery from April 21 – May 29 with an artist reception scheduled for Saturday, April 23 from 5 to 8 p.m. Deadline for submissions is 11:59 p.m. PST Sunday, March 20. More details, including instructions for submitting art can be found here.
In conjunction with the exhibit, several related events are planned:
A public gathering at the Audubon Touisset Marsh Wildlife Refuge in Warren from 10 am – noon on Saturday, April 30. Leonard Yui, Associate Professor of Architecture on the Sustainability Faculty at Roger Williams University (RWU) and Audubon Senior Director of Conservation Scott Ruhren will lead a walk through an ecological art installation depicting future sea level rise.
A public walk into Jacob’s Point from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 14 (rain date on Sunday, May 15) led by Jenny Flanagan of the Warren Land Conservation Trust and Deirdre Robinson of the Saltmarsh Sparrow Research Initiative.
A talk at Imago Gallery in Warren at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 18 by Elizabeth Rush, author of RISING – Dispatches from the New American Shore (published by Milkweed Press in 2018) and Professor of the Practice, Department of English, Brown University, and Affiliated Fellow at the Institute at Brown for the Environment and Society. The book begins with a chapter called “The Password” about Jacob’s Point in Warren, RI and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in non-fiction.
Annual Meeting, January 11, 2022 at 7:00 PM, on-line
The Board has scheduled the next Annual Meeting for January 11, 2022 at 7:00 PM. Because of Covid 19 related circumstances, the decision was made recently that we should not have the meeting in person. Instead, the meeting will once again be held on-line, still open to members and friends. A link for the Zoom meeting will be forwarded to members. Non-members who would like to attend may email warrenltcri@gmail.com to request an invitation and link.
See the Annual Meeting page for full details.