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PROVIDENCE, RI – The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is announcing that its seasonal 24-hour telephone information line will open May 15 and remain open until Oct. 15. The Bay Line, 222-8888, is toll-free within the state.
The Bay Line provides Rhode Islanders with a central point of contact to leave a recorded message about any sign of bay-related environmental problems or occurrences throughout the summer season for appropriate follow-up by DEM. Its aim is rapid, effective responses to environmental incidents on Narragansett Bay. Another option for reporting concerns is through email at DEM.bartline@dem.ri.gov.
Reports of water quality conditions are updated weekly and available on the DEM website. The information is compiled from data provided by a network of monitoring stations in the bay that measure oxygen, temperature, salinity, pH levels, and, in some cases, water clarity and the presence of algae blooms. DEM, in cooperation with the University of Rhode Island (URI), has completed the seasonal deployment of monitoring instruments and posts water quality reports on a weekly basis.
The intent of Bay Line is to provide an effective means for exchanging bay-related information between the public and the agencies charged with monitoring and protecting it. For instance, the line can be used to provide DEM with early warnings about emerging issues such as algae blooms, which might serve as precursors to low oxygen events and fish kills.
The Bay Line is an integral part of a series of initiatives undertaken by DEM to protect Narragansett Bay. A related initiative is the Bay Assessment and Response Team (BART), which is designed to facilitate timely and well-coordinated responses to any major bay-related environmental emergency. BART includes professional staff from DEM, the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH), and URI. Rhode Islanders can find a great deal of bay-related information on the BART page of the DEM website. The weekly Bay Line reports also can be found at this location.
For more information on DEM programs and services, visit www.dem.ri.gov. Follow DEM on Facebook, Twitter (@RhodeIslandDEM), or Instagram (@RhodeIsland.DEM).

High School Students from across the country compete for a $20,000 Grand Prize, May 9-10
Providence – Classical High School junior Natasha Connolly will represent Rhode Island in Washington, D.C., for the 2023 Poetry Out Loud National Finals, May 9-10. In March, Connolly, won the 18th annual 2023 R.I. Poetry Out Loud State Championship with the recitation of “No, I wasn’t meant to love and be loved,” by Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib. She is also a 2023 Youth Poet Ambassador.
At the Poetry Out Loud championships, Connolly will join state winners from throughout our country to compete in regional semifinals. Connolly’s regional contest will be held on Tuesday (May 9) at 9 a.m. George Washington University. The winners of the regionals advance to the Finals on Wednesday (May 10) at 7 p.m.
Visit the 2023 Poetry Out Loud National Finals Facebook Event page for the latest information on the competition. https://fb.me/e/2BYpAhz8D. The competition will be streamed live at https://www.arts.gov/initiatives/poetry-out-loud.
“We wish Natasha the best of luck and thank her for all of the hard work and hours of preparation she put in to represent our state in a competition that requires learning, connecting and commanding of poetry,” said RISCA’s Executive Director, Lynne McCormack. “RISCA is a proud partner of the NEA’s and the Poetry Foundation’s arts education program that inspires a life-long appreciation of great classic and contemporary poetry.”
A total of $50,000 in awards, and school or organizational stipends will be awarded at the National Finals, including $20,000 for the Poetry Out Loud National Champion, and $10,000 and $5,000 for the second- and third-place finalists. The Poetry Foundation provides and administers all aspects of the monetary prizes awarded for Poetry Out Loud. The Poetry Out Loud National Finals are administered by Mid Atlantic Arts.
On March 6, 12 R.I. high school students, representing schools from around the state, competed in the state’s Poetry Out Loud competition at the Greenwich Odeum. Prior to the competition, competitors spent most of the school year studying poetry through learning, memorization and performance.
Beginning at the classroom level, winners advance to a schoolwide competition, then to the state championships, and ultimately to the national finals in Washington, D.C. Since its inception, 3.6 million students from 14,000 high schools nationwide have participated in Poetry Out Loud.
Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest, a partnership with RISCA, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Poetry Foundation, is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition to high schools across the country. For more information, visit Poetryoutloud.org.
National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies and the philanthropic sector, the NEA supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. For more information, visit NEA website. www.arts.gov.
The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is an independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. It exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience. The Poetry Foundation seeks to be a leader in shaping a receptive climate for poetry by developing new audiences, creating new avenues for delivery, and encouraging new kinds of poetry through innovative partnerships, prizes and programs.

PROVIDENCE, RI – The Department of Environmental Management (DEM) announced today that it is offering one-time sign-on and retention bonuses of $500 each and hourly pay increases of between 10% and almost 15% to lifeguards this summer. The agency views the incentives as critical to recruiting more lifeguards to staff state beaches and parks, which attract nearly 10 million visitors and add an estimated $300 million annually to the state economy, according to a URI study. The historically tight national labor market, which continues to include a low labor force participation rate among teenagers 16 to 19, has affected practically every employer in the country, whether public or private sector.
Full-time lifeguard positions are available at all state swimming areas, including surf beaches such as Roger Wheeler and Misquamicut, non-surf beaches such as Goddard Memorial State Park, and freshwater beaches such as Burlingame Campground and Lincoln Woods State Park. Optimally, DEM would hire a workforce of around 150 lifeguards; the agency had about 85 in place for most of the 2022 summer. Despite this, DEM only had to restrict swimming areas at a few beaches a handful of times last year.
Lifeguard pay ranges from $14 to $18.75 an hour based on location, experience, and position level. The raises range from 10.7% (from $14 to $15.50 for Lifeguard I jobs) to 14% (from $16 to $18.75 for Seasonal Supervising Lifeguard positions). All lifeguard candidates must receive state certification and have successfully completed courses and hold valid cards in lifeguard training, first aid, and CPR including infant, child, and adult.
“Rhode Island’s state beaches and parks provide some of the best outdoor experiences in the state, including many great swimming spots,” said DEM Director Terry Gray. “One of our top goals at DEM is promoting outdoor recreation for all Rhode Islanders and providing visitors with excellent experiences at our amazing network of parks, beaches, and campgrounds. We need a great team — and finding and hiring qualified, enthusiastic workers is essential to delivering on this promise. We are excited to offer a $500 sign-on bonus and an additional $500 retention bonus, along with higher salaries, to help us hire a robust workforce of lifeguards. Working outside, building lifelong friendships with workmates, and serving their community are also the big benefits of spending the summer working at our beaches, parks, and campgrounds. We still have lots of positions open for beach managers, park rangers, groundskeepers, and facilities attendants as well.”
Lifeguards who submit a complete application packet including all required documents and are hired by June 24, 2023, will be eligible to receive a one-time, $500 sign-on bonus. Lifeguard staff who remain in good standing throughout the course of their employment, who have not taken more than five unapproved days off over the summer, and remain employed until Sept. 4, 2023, will be eligible for a one-time, $500 retention bonus. The anticipated pay date for the sign-on bonus is July 21, 2023, and the retention bonus pay date is Sept. 29, 2023. Year-over-year salary comps are below.

LIFEGUARD 2023 PAY SCALE Pay step 1 Pay step 2 Pay step 3
Lifeguard I $15.50 $16.00 $16.50
Lifeguard II $16.75 $17.00 $17.25
Lifeguard III $17.50 $17.75 $18.00
Seasonal Supervising Lifeguard $18.25 $18.50 $18.75
Seasonal Surf Beach Manager $19.00 $19.50 $20.00
Seasonal Non-Surf Beach Manager $17.75 $18.25 $18.75
Assistant Surf Beach Manager $17.75 $18.25 $18.75

LIFEGUARD 2022 PAY SCALE Pay step 1 Pay step 2 Pay step 3
Lifeguard I $14.00 $14.50 $15.00
Lifeguard II $14.75 $15.25 $15.75
Lifeguard III $15.50 $16.00 $16.50
Seasonal Supervising Lifeguard $16.00 $16.50 $17.00
Seasonal Surf Beach Manager $17.50 $18.00 $18.50
Seasonal Non-Surf Beach Manager $16.25 $16.75 $17.25
Assistant Surf Beach Manager $16.25 $16.75 $17.25

With only 52 full-time employees managing 25 parks, eight surf beaches, and dozens of other properties, DEM’s Division of Parks and Recreation relies hugely on seasonal employees. Currently, DEM is in the process of hiring the hundreds of “seasonals” needed to fill critical summertime positions like park rangers, beach managers, facilities attendants, groundskeepers, laborers, and nature educators along with lifeguards. Park rangers are key employees, helping to create a safe and fun experience at DEM properties. They give directions to beachgoers and park users, help with crowd control, provide security checks for facilities, and are the first responders in the event of emergency. Hourly rates for park rangers range from $13.75 to $15.25. Applicants for Facilities Attendant and Park Ranger I positions must be 16 years of age or older and applicants for Park Ranger positions at levels II and III must be 18 years of age or older.
Although slightly down from historically high levels over the past few years, the current number of national yearly job openings — 9.9 million — is very high, according to the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Related, DEM and other employers also are contending with long-term laborforce data revealing that the share of teens participating in the workforce peaked 40 years ago and has declined ever since. Today, just over one-third, or 35%, of teens between the ages of 16 and 19 are part of the workforce. BLS data suggest that year-round schooling and summer classes are a major cause, with the percent of 16- to 19-year-olds enrolled in summer school tripling in the last 20 years.
For a complete list of seasonal employment opportunities and to apply, job seekers may click here. Most positions are full-time and include weekend and holiday hours. Applications must be completed online and paper applications will not be accepted. The State of Rhode Island is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
For more information on DEM programs and services, visit www.dem.ri.gov. Follow DEM on Facebook, Twitter (@RhodeIslandDEM), or Instagram (@RhodeIsland.DEM).