The fight to protect our forests

            In mid-April, pine warblers had taken over the Audubon Society of Rhode Island’s Fisherville Brook Wildlife Refuge in Exeter. Their high-pitched, insect-like buzzy songs could be heard everywhere one turned, from the parking lot to the pond to the densest woodland.

But they weren’t the only birds making themselves heard and seen during the early days of spring migration. A pair of red-shouldered hawks called out to each other as they soared overhead and performed their mating ritual in anticipation of nesting in the refuge in the

A stroll through Fisherville Brook (Glenn Osmundson)

ensuing weeks. A pair of eastern phoebes had nearly completed construction of their nest on a support beam of the informational kiosk. And red-breasted nuthatches, pine siskins, black-capped chickadees and several other forest-nesting species appeared to be making plans for the future.

Fisherville, a mosaic of five properties acquired since 1988 that now totals 1,010-acres, is an ideal place to observe the important role that forests play in providing habitat for a diversity of wildlife. It’s also representative of the abundance of ecosystem services that forests contribute to the region’s human population, from protecting the water quality in local aquifers and sequestering carbon from the atmosphere to cooling the environment, reducing soil erosion and providing a stress-free place for rest, recreation and rejuvenation.

“Fisherville protects the headwaters of the Queen River, one of the most biodiverse rivers in the state,” said Scott Ruhren, Audubon’s senior conservation director. “And the reason it’s one of the most biodiverse rivers in the state is because it runs through protected forests almost all the way to the Pawcatuck River, including through our Eppley Wildlife Refuge.”

Large undisturbed tracts of forest are especially valuable in supporting wildlife and the services that people require.

“Humans have a history of fragmenting forests into smaller patches, but small woodlots lose diversity, they get warmer more quickly, they tend to get invaded by pests, and they’re less able to store and filter water,” Ruhren said. “We take them for granted, but it’s vitally important that we protect large, intact forest ecosystems.”

Audubon’s executive director Larry Taft agrees. When asked what he likes most about Fisherville, he said, “its bigness.”

While size is indeed important when it comes to forest conservation, what is equally important today in Rhode Island is that the state acknowledge the vital role forests play in the region and establish a process to protect essential forest habitats. That’s why Audubon worked with partners to develop the Rhode Island Woodland Preservation and Stewardship Act of 2019, a bill that was introduced to the General Assembly in April by Rep. Arthur Handy and Sen. Bridget Valverde. When passed, the legislation will give the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management the authority to promote the stewardship of forests and woodlands in partnership with cities, towns and private landowners.

“Wetlands, farmland, coastal lands and soils are all protected in the state, but not upland woods,” said Taft as he walked through Fisherville. “Forests like this have no standing under the law in Rhode Island. There is no grand plan or incentive for people to use or protect or appreciate the environmental services they provide.”

Forested lands have been under increasing threat in recent years. Over the past century, the primary threat to Rhode Island’s wildlife and their habitats... 

Read the rest of this article in the Summer 2019 issue of Audubon Report.