Forest Management Commission to discuss potential findings.
STATE HOUSE – The House commission working to help the state determine the best action for improving forest management will meet Friday for a discussion about potential findings and recommendations.
The Special Legislative Commission to Evaluate and Provide Recommendations on Proper Forest Management for Fire Prevention is scheduled to meet Friday, Feb. 2, at 2 p.m. in Room 135 on the first floor of the State House. The meeting will include a discussion by commission members on potential findings and recommendations. No public testimony will be accepted at this meeting.
The meeting will be televised on Capitol Television on Cox Communications channel 61; on i3 Broadband (formerly Full Channel) channel 15; and on Verizon channel 34. It will also be live streamed at capitoltvri.cablecast.tv.
Rep. Megan L. Cotter (D-Dist. 39, Exeter, Richmond, Hopkinton) leads the commission, which was created by a resolution she introduced shortly after the mid-April wildfire that scorched hundreds of acres at the Queen’s River Preserve in Exeter, the largest forest fire in Rhode Island since 1942. The 12-member special legislation commission is evaluating and will provide recommendations on proper forest management for fire prevention in Rhode Island.
In addition to chairwoman Cotter, the commission includes House Minority Leader Michael W. Chippendale (R-Dist. 40, Foster, Glocester, Coventry), Department of Environmental Management Deputy Chief of Agriculture and Forest Environment Tee Jay Boudreau, Marc R. Pappas of the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency, Armand Niquette of the Rhode Island State Association of Firefighters, Chief Scott Kettelle of the Rhode Island Association of Fire Chiefs, Scott Millar of the Forest Conservation Commission, Kate Sayles of the Rhode Island Land Trust Council, William Fortune of the Forest Conservators Organization, former Rhode Island Chief of Forestry Catherine Sparks, Dick Went of the Rhode Island Association of Conservation Districts and John Torgan of The Nature Conservancy.