Rhode Island Statewide Planning Program                      One Capitol Hill, Providence, RI  02908
 

Transportation

Economic Development

Census 2000

RIGIS

Statewide Planning’s Land Use Section is responsible for a wide range of land use and natural resource planning activities, including oversight of 16 State Guide Plan elements.  The major ongoing project for the Land Use Section is the implementation of the Land Use 2025, State Land Use Policies and Plan.  Other focal areas for the section are water supply planning, outdoor recreation and open space planning, and rivers and forest resources conservation planning, often in partnership with other State departments and non-profit entities.

Vacant, Supervising Planner
Nancy Hess, Principal Environmental Planner
Kevin J. Nelson, Principal Planner
Benny Bergantino, Senior Planner

Technical Papers

  Land Use

Land Use 2025, State Land Use Policies and Plan

Executive Summary

Natural Resources and Open Space

A Greener Path…Greenspace and Greenways for Rhode Island’s Future
 

The “Greenways” Plan documents key natural and cultural values that Rhode Island’s landscape provides to society and asserts that they are worth defending.  Using six important resource factors – water, forests, agriculture, rare species, natural hazards, and recreation and culture – the Plan maps where lands that provide these multiple values occur.  The Plan presents a proposed State Greenspace and Greenway System of protected land that would encompass up to one-third of the state’s land areas and provide 500 miles of natural greenways, 200 miles of bikeways, and 65 miles of trail corridors.

Other State Guide Plan elements relating to Natural Resources and Open Space include: Ocean State Outdoors: Rhode Island’s Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, RI Urban and Community Forest Plan, and the Rivers Policy and Classification Plan

Water Resources

Water Supply Policies for Rhode Island

The key objective of this Plan is to present long-range policies that protect water quantity and quality in the most cost-effective and environmentally sound manner possible.  It covers issues of supply management, demand management, and planning and administration management.

Other State Guide Plan elements relating to water resources include:

Rhode Island Drought Management, Water Emergency Response Plan, Water Supply Plan for Rhode Island, Non-Point Source Pollution Management Plan, and Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for Narragansett Bay