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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><img width="83" height="119" style="width:.8645in;height:1.2395in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01D5ECAA.CF53F8C0" alt="DEM-logo-small"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Impact",sans-serif;color:#00457A">Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#00457A">235 Promenade Street | Providence, RI 02908 | 401.222.4700 |</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#0070C0">
</span><a href="http://www.dem.ri.gov"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">www.dem.ri.gov</span></a><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#0070C0">
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#00457A">| @RhodeIslandDEM</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT:
</span></b><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Gail Mastrati, DEM: 401-222-4700, X2402<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Wednesday, February 26, 2020
</span><a href="mailto:gail.mastrati@dem.ri.gov"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">gail.mastrati@dem.ri.gov</span></a><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">DEM AMENDS FRESHWATER FISHING RULES TO BETTER BATTLE INVASIVE PLANTS THAT ARE CHOKING RI WATERWAYS
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">New regulations require boaters to remove all “hitchhiking aquatic plants” from boats, motors, trailers, equipment, and gear to help prevent the spread of harmful
invasive plants in freshwater lakes and rivers</span></i><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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</v:shapetype><v:shape id="_x0000_s1026" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="Variable milfoil bracts in Bowdish Reservoir, Glocester. Because the plant can self-fragment, even a very small piece can float away, re-root, and begin a whole new colony. Invasive milfoil crowds out native plants, reduces biodiversity, diminishes fish habitat, and harms wetland habitats with its dense mats quickly covering water surfaces." style='position:absolute;margin-left:202.5pt;margin-top:271.45pt;width:328.1pt;height:57pt;z-index:251659264;visibility:visible;mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0;mso-wrap-distance-left:9pt;mso-wrap-distance-top:0;mso-wrap-distance-right:9pt;mso-wrap-distance-bottom:0;mso-position-horizontal:absolute;mso-position-horizontal-relative:text;mso-position-vertical:absolute;mso-position-vertical-relative:text;mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0;mso-width-relative:page;mso-height-relative:page'>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><![if !vml]><img width="437" height="76" style="width:4.552in;height:.7916in" src="cid:image009.png@01D5ECAB.E01CE350" align="left" hspace="12" alt="Variable milfoil bracts in Bowdish Reservoir, Glocester. Because the plant can self-fragment, even a very small piece can float away, re-root, and begin a whole new colony. Invasive milfoil crowds out native plants, reduces biodiversity, diminishes fish habitat, and harms wetland habitats with its dense mats quickly covering water surfaces." v:shapes="_x0000_s1026"><![endif]><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">PROVIDENCE
– Trying to reduce the spread of invasive species in Rhode Island waters, the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) has amended the state’s
</span><a href="https://rules.sos.ri.gov/regulations/part/250-60-00-10"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Freshwater Fisheries Regulations</span></a><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"> to prohibit the transport of any plant
or plant part into or out of any Rhode Island waterbody on any type of boat, motor, trailer, fishing supplies, or gear. The new regulation carries a $100 fine for each violation.</span><em><span style="font-style:normal"><o:p></o:p></span></em></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">“Many of the aquatic invasive plants in Rhode Island can reproduce from just one small plant fragment and do not need entire root systems to successfully
establish in a new spot,” </span></em><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">said Katie DeGoosh-DiMarzio, Environmental Analyst with DEM’s Office of Water Resources.
<em><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">“Cleaning off every bit of plant from recreational gear used at one pond is essential before visiting another — this includes boats, kayaks, canoes, motors, trailers, paddles,
jet skis, fishing gear, waders, water tubes, and anchors. These efforts help combat the spread of aquatic invasive species in Rhode Island waterbodies.”</span></em><em><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black;background:white;font-style:normal"><o:p></o:p></span></em></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black;background:white;font-style:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></em></p>
<p class="MsoCommentText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">Aquatic invasive plants are a major cause of impairment in Rhode Island’s freshwater lakes. More than 100 lakes and ponds are plagued with at least one
species of invasive plant, and at least one invasive plant type has been recorded in 27 river segments. DEM has documented
</span><a href="http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/benviron/water/quality/surfwq/pdfs/aisridist.pdf"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">14 different aquatic invasive plant species</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">,
the most common being </span><a href="http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/benviron/water/quality/surfwq/pdfs/myrhet.pdf"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">variable milfoil</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">
and </span><a href="http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/benviron/water/quality/surfwq/pdfs/cabcar.pdf"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">fanwort</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">.
By prohibiting the transport of plants on boats and trailers, DEM hopes to curb the spread of these plants from one lake to the next. While only variable milfoil and fanwort are widespread in the state, most of the other 12 harmful invasives are found only
in a handful of lakes. A 2013 study in Rhode Island found that nearly forty percent of boats observed at a freshwater ramp had some type of vegetation attached. It’s crucial that boaters prevent moving these plants on boats and trailers to avoid spreading
them to new locations where they may become problematic. </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoCommentText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">In celebration of
</span><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.nisaw.org_&d=DwMFAg&c=tSLbvWYfvulPN3G_n48TUw&r=PNPCCLvWGdSuU1Tdn5Dnfma8bA9iLrs91avOnZ4uMV0&m=Zsp3wPgYhFwOXjEj9XpLwMHmA_fSjzNtsVlTFLSJ6Ag&s=W6ioExaMf3BLkaSuX1W1H-SLDNEWvzRgjxyJmC7fL44&e="><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">National Invasive Species Awareness Week</span> [nisaw.org]</a><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"> February 24-28, DEM is joining environmental professionals
across North America to urge boaters to check and clean their boats and gear before and after launching their watercraft in a lake or river. Sponsored by the
</span><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.naisma.org_&d=DwMFAg&c=tSLbvWYfvulPN3G_n48TUw&r=PNPCCLvWGdSuU1Tdn5Dnfma8bA9iLrs91avOnZ4uMV0&m=Zsp3wPgYhFwOXjEj9XpLwMHmA_fSjzNtsVlTFLSJ6Ag&s=91drY_yN8OrXgfF4QKvGkCyV5VRcL2mOP5g2kdGoXjc&e="><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">North American Invasive Species Management Association</span> [naisma.org]</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">,</span></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;text-decoration:none">
</span></span><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">the effort is raising<span style="color:black"> awareness of the threat of invasive species and what people can do to prevent their spread.
</span>With the newly amended </span><a href="https://rules.sos.ri.gov/regulations/part/250-60-00-10"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Freshwater Fisheries Regulations</span></a><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">, DEM
joins all the other New England states in banning the transport of any plant or plant part into any waterbody on any type of boat, motor, trailer, fishing supplies, or gear.</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoCommentText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoCommentText"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_2" o:spid="_x0000_s1028" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="A picture containing grass, outdoor, person, ground Description automatically generated" style='position:absolute;margin-left:222pt;margin-top:1.1pt;width:286.75pt;height:215.25pt;z-index:251661312;visibility:visible;mso-wrap-style:square;mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0;mso-wrap-distance-left:9pt;mso-wrap-distance-top:0;mso-wrap-distance-right:9pt;mso-wrap-distance-bottom:0;mso-position-horizontal:absolute;mso-position-horizontal-relative:text;mso-position-vertical:absolute;mso-position-vertical-relative:text;mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0;mso-width-relative:margin;mso-height-relative:margin'>
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Description automatically generated" v:shapes="Picture_x0020_2"><![endif]><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">Boaters
simply should check their boat, trailer, motor, lines, and other gear for plant parts, and remove any plant material before traveling. Do not put any plant material removed from vessels into any waterbody. Instead, dispose of all plants in the trash or compost
away from water. Also, before heading to a waterbody, check </span><a href="http://www.dem.ri.gov"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">DEM’s website</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">
to see if invasive plants have been documented at that location, using either the static map and list of waterbodies by
</span><a href="http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/benviron/water/wetlands/pdfs/invasive.pdf"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">town</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">
or the </span><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__ridemgis.maps.arcgis.com_apps_webappviewer_index.html-3Fid-3D87e104c8adb449eb9f905e5f18020de5&d=DwMFAg&c=tSLbvWYfvulPN3G_n48TUw&r=PNPCCLvWGdSuU1Tdn5Dnfma8bA9iLrs91avOnZ4uMV0&m=Zsp3wPgYhFwOXjEj9XpLwMHmA_fSjzNtsVlTFLSJ6Ag&s=5nng8-bTWzSH92xfs9MlJy1NxwbSOYl3kxEmA8QIlY0&e="><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">interactive map</span> [ridemgis.maps.arcgis.com]</a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">
under the “Freshwater Aquatic Invasive Plants” layer. As an added step, boaters can take a
</span><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__stopaquatichitchhikers.org_activities_-23pledge&d=DwMFAg&c=tSLbvWYfvulPN3G_n48TUw&r=PNPCCLvWGdSuU1Tdn5Dnfma8bA9iLrs91avOnZ4uMV0&m=Zsp3wPgYhFwOXjEj9XpLwMHmA_fSjzNtsVlTFLSJ6Ag&s=px-lxxt43kEnGxzETXD5zpA7ot9-Hay887nTMhApYnc&e="><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">pledge online</span> [stopaquatichitchhikers.org]</a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black"> to remove
any visible mud or plants and drain water before transporting equipment, cleaning, and drying anything that comes into contact with the water including boats, trailers, equipment, clothing, dogs, etc.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;background:white"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#1C1C1C">IMPORTANT REMINDERS FOR ALL BOATERS<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;background:white"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#1C1C1C">CLEAN</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#1C1C1C">: Remove
all visible aquatic plants, animals, and mud from all equipment before leaving water access.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;background:white"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#1C1C1C">DRAIN</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#1C1C1C"> motor,
bilge, livewell, and other water-containing devices before leaving water access.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;background:white"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#1C1C1C">DRY</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#1C1C1C"> everything
for at least 24 hours OR wipe with a towel before reuse.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:.5in;background:white">
<b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#1C1C1C">DISPOSE </span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#1C1C1C">of unwanted bait, worms, and fish parts in the trash.</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#1C1C1C">
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoCommentText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">Invasive species pose many problems. Thriving invasive plant populations outcompete native plant communities and upset the healthy balance of plants
and animals. These aggressive plants change fish and wildlife habitats, disrupt local food webs, and may degrade water quality. Further, large patches of plants can interfere with recreational activities, making boating, swimming, and fishing difficult in
these areas. Prolonged effects on recreational opportunities may harm tourism and local businesses, reduce waterfront property values, and become costly to manage and control over the long term. The most efficient and cost-effective management strategy is
to prevent the plants from moving to, and becoming established in, a waterbody – and clean boats are the first line of defense.
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">For more information on Rhode Island Freshwater Fishing Regulations and boating laws, visit
</span><span style="color:black"><a href="http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/law/boating-safety-topics.php"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">www.dem.ri.gov</span></a></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;text-decoration:none">
</span></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black;text-decoration:none">or</span></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;text-decoration:none">
</span></span><span style="color:black"><a href="https://rules.sos.ri.gov/regulations/part/250-60-00-10"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">https://rules.sos.ri.gov/regulations/part/250-60-00-10</span></a></span><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">.
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">Follow DEM on Facebook at
</span><span style="color:black"><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.facebook.com_RhodeIslandDEM&d=DwMFAg&c=tSLbvWYfvulPN3G_n48TUw&r=PNPCCLvWGdSuU1Tdn5Dnfma8bA9iLrs91avOnZ4uMV0&m=Zsp3wPgYhFwOXjEj9XpLwMHmA_fSjzNtsVlTFLSJ6Ag&s=csI6vJe5j4-cIcVIwJpbEK7Z_GcvuKG43PWGAoYjS6M&e=" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">www.facebook.com/RhodeIslandDEM</span> [facebook.com]</a></span><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">
or Twitter (@RhodeIslandDEM) for other timely updates.</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:red"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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