The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management is getting additional forest rangers this year.
The hire is the result of a push from Exeter Representative Megan Cotter, according to a press release sent from the Rhode Island General Assembly on Cotter’s behalf.
Representative Cotter (D-Dist. 39, Exeter, Richmond, Hopkinton), who led a House study commission to identify ways to improve forest management in Rhode Island, introduced legislation (2024-H 7258) this year seeking funding for additional forestry staff to help the DEM effectively manage the 40,000 acres of state-managed forest land within its purview.
That legislation led to the addition of $180,000 for the two forest rangers in the 2025 state budget bill (2024-H 7225Aaa) passed by the General Assembly last month. The additional rangers are to help maintain the health of the forest, coordinate responses to forest fires and improve the stewardship of state management areas.
“I am very grateful to my colleagues in the General Assembly for increasing support of DEM’s forestry operations. As our forestry commission looked at our state’s approach to forest management, we saw that even while we acquired more state-managed land, staffing at the Forestry Division that is in charge of it was slashed by 75 percent since 1990. We can’t possibly expect safe, effective forestry management with a fraction of the staff we need,” said Representative Cotter. “These additional positions are a step in the right direction, and I will continue to advocate at the State House for strong support and protection of our forested lands. They are so valuable to our state, and we must commit the resources it takes to maintain and protect them from fire, pollution and vandalism.”
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.
