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Sunday, March 19, 2017 Vol. CXXXII, No. 11providencejournal.com © 2017 Published daily since 1829 $3.50

STATE HOUSE

Faster than anywhere in the U.S., salt marshes in Rhode Island and are disintegrating. The scientist who has studied these wellsprings of life for 17 years says the loss ‘is just stunning.’ Raimondo Losing ground pitching ethics reforms Seeks campaign-fi nance audits, line-item veto

By Patrick Anderson Journal State House Bureau

PROVIDENCE — Gov- ernor is putting past lawmaker misdeeds and the power Raimondo Fox of the legislature in the spotlight again with gov- Inside ernment-reform proposals to be introduced this week. The governor makes her case. The governor proposes A15 routine audits of cam- paign-finance accounts, Scientist Kenny Raposa uses a surface elevation table (SET) device to gauge growth at Nag Marsh on Prudence Island. His goal is to deter- disqualification of candi- Friday. “I think the vast mine whether marshes are gaining altitude, key to survival against rising seas. [/BOB BREIDENBACH] dates who owe campaign majority of public servants fines, and arming the gov- are honest and ethi- By Alex Kuffner R.I. marshes among most vulnerable in U.S. ernor with line-item veto cal.... So I say strengthen Journal Staff Writer power over spending bills. the rules and strengthen Researchers have found salt marshes in New England to be “The reason to do this is enforcement so that we PRUDENCE ISLAND — Kenny the most endangered in the country due to rising sea levels. Rhode Islanders deserve can find these bad actors Raposa never considered himself Salt marshes at 16 Marsh elevation Overall resilience confidence in their gov- sooner and also deter bad a climate-change guy. sites scored on ernment,” Raimondo told Marsh growth rate High SEE RAIMONDO, A12 ’s not that he didn’t believe their ability to resist The Journal in an interview Sediment supply Medium that the planet was warming. It’s . just that as a scientist studying Resilience is judged Tidal range Low salt marshes on Prudence Island, by these categories: Sea level rise Very low HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS it wasn’t part of his research. But that changed five years ago Padilla Great Bay, N.H. when he started going through a Bay, Wash. Waquoit Bay, Mass. Ortiz to headline decade’s worth of his data on two South Narragansett Bay, R.I. of the most common marsh plants Slough, Ore. Hudson River, N.Y. and noticed an unmistakable trend San Francisco Dover, Del. All-State banquet in the numbers: the species that Bay, Calif. , Md. PROVIDENCE — can withstand frequent flooding Elkhorn Masonboro Isl., N.C. Slough, Calif. Three-time World Series was thriving while the one that North Inlet-Winyah champion, 10-time Major adapted only to intermittent inun- Tijuana Bay, S.C. River, Calif. League All-Star dation was dwindling. ACE Basin, S.C. and 2013 World Series It was the first definitive proof Grand Bay, Miss. MVP “Big Papi” for Raposa that the increasing pace Ortiz will be the guest of sea-level rise was pushing more Ortiz speaker at the second and more water onto the island’s SOURCE: National Estuarine Research Reserve Association annual All-State Rhode marshes, dramatically changing and coach of the year. The THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL Island High School Sports the composition of their vegeta- event will be held at the Awards banquet on June tion in the near term and auguring Rhode Island Conven- Online 21. their demise in the long term. tion Center on June 21 The event celebrates “I wasn’t even looking for ■ Compare a square-meter plot of Coggeshall Marsh in 2011 and 2016 from 6-9 p.m. First- and the accomplishments of these changes. I just saw them in ■ Explore an interactive graphic: One marsh grass thrives as second-team All-State The Providence Journal’s the data,” says Raposa, research another falters athletes will receive a All-State athletes, as ■ Watch a video of scientist Kenny Raposa at work on Prudence letter with instructions well as names the overall Island. Find these and more providencejournal.com on how to claim their free SEE MARSHES, A11 male and female athletes of the year in each sport, SEE ORTIZ, A2

PASSAGES Hundreds celebrate twins’ joyous lives Service honors sisters Haley’s “live-life-to-the- “womb mates” and made Nathan Haley. fullest” style. international news when The surviving sibling, who found Remembered by hundreds they died together March 4 younger sister Mary Jacobs, everywhere together in a service at Cen- after a Friday night sisters’ 89, who went out with them tral Congregational Church, date to the Lobster Pot in that night, was silent at the By Alisha A. Pina the twins, daughters of the Bristol. One fell, the other service. The three were often Journal Staff Writer late Louise Gibbs Young came to help and fell herself called “the girls.” and L. Douglas Young, didn’t and the frigid cold took them “They were ‘the girls,’ PROVIDENCE — Qualita- consider anyone a stranger both in the night. Haley’s and they were a fixture in tive, not quantitative. and found joy in family, each Barrington neighbor found many local establishments Family members prepare for Saturday’s memorial service at Central Con- The phrase used by the another, dining out, adven- them in the morning. — an institution well known gregational Church in Providence honoring 97-year-old twins Jean Haley, Rev. Rebecca L. Spencer on tures — and even everyday The two were 97 years, and loved by so many,” said pictured at left, and Martha Williams, right, who died two weekends ago Saturday embodied the late tasks and household chores. four months and one day old, when both fell outside Jean’s home in Barrington. [THE PROVIDENCE JOUR- Martha Williams and Jean They called each other calculated Haley’s grandson SEE MEMORIAL, A6 NAL/GLENN OSMUNDSON]

TODAY MON TUE Arts Calendar ...F5 Editorial ...... A14 More than a fl y in this ointment Books ...... F3 Lotteries ...... C6 Business ...... B1 Movies ...... F6 Mark Patinkin is caught in the middle when Classifi ed . D11, E5 Obituaries ...... B5 41°/28° 50°/33° 51°/30° his high-deductible health plan runs into ...... E3 Television ...... E4 pharmaceutical price-gouging. A4 Complete forecast, B8 Home delivery: 401-277-7600 Sunday A10 Sunday, March 19, 2017 | PROVIDENCE JOURNAL | providencejournal.com Color-coded guide to a habitat under siege

By Alex Kuffner The reserve has generated could be an important tool in Journal Staff Writer these maps for the entire determining which marshes coastline of Rhode Island are degrading fastest and PRUDENCE ISLAND — The to better understand how which stand the best chance image on Robin Weber’s the mixture of plants in salt of surviving higher seas. The computer screen is divided marshes is changing as sea maps will also help identify into two panels. levels rise. areas where marshes could On the left side is a high- The mapping program dif- endure by moving inland. resolution aerial photograph ferentiates between plant Weber zooms the map out of Nag Pond and surround- species based on how they and points out an area of low, ing marshland on Prudence reflect light. It then catego- undeveloped ground on the Island. And on the right is rizes them based on these east side of Prudence Island. something that looks like unique spectral signatures. She has been eyeing it as a abstract art — a splotch of The technology isn’t new, but place that could convert to blue here and a dab of red the reserve is the first to use it marshland with some human there. for mapping marshes. intervention. It’s the result after the The effort is being directed If a culvert were installed aerial photo has been run by Kenneth B. Raposa, under a road that separates through a computer program research coordinator at the the land from the Bay, it that color-codes the different reserve, and Weber. would allow saltwater to types of plant communities She has just finished the set move in and out and poten- that grow on the marsh. The of maps using photos taken in tially create a marsh of up to variety form of smooth cord- 2012 that will serve as a base- a dozen acres. grass is shaded purple. The line to track future changes. It sounds promising, but long variety is tan. Freshwa- And she hopes this year to then Weber taps her finger on ter phragmites are green. finish maps using photos the photo of the 30-plus-acre “And these are dieback from 2016 so researchers can marsh around Nag Pond. areas,” says Weber, stew- start making comparisons. “It certainly doesn’t replace ardship coordinator for the New sets would follow every this,” she says. Narragansett Bay National three or four years. Estuarine Research Reserve, By shedding light on how — akuffner@providence- The Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve is using a computer program to map the entire pointing to mudflats in different species of plants fare journal.com coastline of Rhode Island to assess how the mixture of plants in salt marshes is changing as sea levels rise. yellow. as conditions shift, the maps (401) 277-7457 [THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL/BOB BREIDENBACH]

WASHINGTON, D.C. TRUMP BUDGET PROPOSAL Cherry blossoms ravaged by weather NOAA’s satellites left untouched Budget plan (Lightning is a good indica- of a hurricane’s future maintains funding intensity.) because they collect The GOES-16 satellite ‘critical weather data’ floating 22,300 miles above Earth is the first of four new By Brian K. Sullivan ones being deployed as part Bloomberg of a $10.8-billion program that’s based in Wallops President Island, . GOES may want to kill $250 million stands for Geostationary in funding for the National Operational Environmental Oceanic and Atmospheric Satellites. Trump proposed Administration’s coastal in his budget Thursday and marine programs, but to maintain funding for there’s one area of the mas- the program, so they keep sive data-collecting agency relaying “critical weather he seems keen on sparing: its data to help protect life and satellite fleet. property.” A sprawling agency There’s another type under the Department of of satellite in polar orbit. Cherry blossoms peek out along the in Washington, D.C., on Friday. Wild weather has claimed about half the blossoms in , Commerce with 12,000 These sweep the entire though trees along the Tidal Basin are still expected to put on a good show. [/BONNIE JO MOUNT] employees, NOAA’s charge planet, according to Henson. is watching the oceans, the Together, these two kinds of Nearly half are killed hoping to see them can determined there was no beloved cherry blossoms climate, the sun and the satellites form the backbone still expect a spectacular serious damage to these, was caused by unseason- weather. Satellites are its of modern weather predic- after cold and snow showing. according to Litterst. ably warm weather, quickly eyes — gathering data on tion. The data they collect follow warmth “It’s a glass half-full, The loss of 50 percent of followed by unseasonably everything from gravity informs models that, in glass half-empty situa- the buds pushes the peak cold weather. When the waves in the atmosphere to turn, move natural-gas By Perry Stein tion,” he said. bloom date to probably late cold snap hit last week, the lightning strikes. There’s markets daily by projecting The Washington Post There are about 3,800 next week. “Peak bloom” freezing temperatures killed even one parked 1 million how demand there might be trees in refers to the point when 70 the cherry blossoms that miles from home watching for the heating fuel. Retailers WASHINGTON — Per- the city, the bulk of which percent of the cherry blos- were almost fully bloomed. the sun. plan store inventories based sistent frigid temperatures are located along the Tidal soms along the Tidal Basin Diana Mayhew, president Without them, the on those weather forecasts, and the sloppy storm that Basin. There also are sev- are in bloom. of the National Cherry Blos- National Weather Service’s airlines plot routes and avoid blanketed much of the East eral different varieties of The Park Service had som Festival, has said that forecasting would be set turbulence, and governors Coast on Tuesday ravaged cherry blossom trees in the predicted that beak bloom the month-long event that back decades. So Trump’s and mayors decide evacu- about half of the city’s District, though 70 percent would fall between March began March 15 would go on plan to maintain funding for ations ahead of storms and cherry blossoms, leaving of them are Yoshino trees. 19 and 22. no matter what happens to the satellite systems came as floods. them unable to bloom this Litterst said the assess- Litterst explained the the cherry blossoms. welcome news on Thursday. In fact, about one-third year. Most of the remaining ments of damages and delay in peak bloom is not The programming, she “I am heartened those of U.S. gross domestic buds are expected to fully predictions of bloom dates because the remaining buds said, attracts tourists on its facilities aren’t being cut,” product comes from indus- bloom by the end of next are based on examinations are now blooming more own. It features a Japanese said Bob Henson, a mete- tries vulnerable to changes week, according to offi- of the Yoshino trees. slowly but because the buds street festival, musical per- orologist with Weather in the weather, according cials at the National Park The cold temperatures that had been expected to formances, a kite festival Underground based in Boul- to John Dutton, president Service. killed the cherry blossoms bloom on the earlier end and a fireworks show. The der, Colorado. “What goes of Prescient Weather Ltd. Mike Litterst, a spokes- that were in their final stage will no longer boom. With- flagship parade is scheduled into forecast models is sat- Crunching data from man for the Park Service, before they fully bloomed, out these early bloomers, for April 8 along Consti- ellite data, and it would be NOAA and predicting it are described the scenario as know as the puffy stage. the calculation for when 70 tution Avenue before the a significant impact not to companies ranging from venturing into “uncharted About 50 percent of the percent are considered in festival wraps up April 16. have those.” AccuWeather Inc. in State waters” for the city. But, cherry blossoms were in full bloom is pushed back. “We still have the events Not to mention they’re College, Pennsylvania, he said, it could have been this stage. “We’ve lost half our data as scheduled,” Mayhew big business. Raytheon Co. to International Business worse. Experts studied the buds points that we intended to said. “It’s still nature’s has estimated that weather Machines Corp., which Because the cherry blos- in the fourth stage of the use,” he said. kickoff of spring, not only satellites, instruments and recently started using its soms are lush and dense blooming process, called These unfavorable in Washington but across data-collection products artificial-- along the Tidal Basin, those peduncle elongation, and conditions for the city’s the country.” could be a $15-billion market ligence platform to make over the next five years. better predictions. MASSACHUSETTS BRIEFS Corp. had a The National Weather hand in designing the equip- Service, an arm of NOAA, residents to be particularly gambling. Gov. Paul LePage to give him Offi cials warn of ment that locates lightning referred all questions about careful this St. Patrick’s Day The group cites estimates another chance. strikes on the GOES-16 the budget to the Commerce circulating weekend. of more than $12 billion being Richard Steeves, 75, told launched earlier this year. Department. LOWELL — Law enforce- spent on sports gambling the Governor’s Board on ment offi cials in a during the current NCAA bas- Executive Clemency last Group warns about IN BRIEF Massachusetts city are warn- problem gambling ketball tournament, making month that he’s rehabili- ing about a dangerous batch March the largest month for tated himself, conquered his moratorium on it for another of heroin circulating the area. BOSTON — A local group individual bets. demons and performed good two years. Lowell offi cials say they’ve wants to make sure March works that include provid- Governor seeks The fi rst-term Republican in responded to six near-fatal Madness doesn’t turn into a Man blamed for ing care to inmates, ban on fracking the past said he would support overdoses since Thursday year-round gambling habit deaths asks Maine caring for neglected dogs fracking in night. The victims survived for some people. and giving piano lessons. ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Mary- if he believed it could be done after they were administered The Massachusetts Council governor for clemency No attorney, friend or land Gov. called safely. At a hastily called news family member provided Friday for a ban on hydraulic the overdose reversal drug on Compulsive Gambling CHARLESTON, Maine — A conference Friday, he said he support during Steeves’ pre- fracturing in the state, adding Narcan and sent to area hos- says now is a good time to man blamed for the deaths did not think there was a way sentation, the Boston a new twist to a debate in pitals for treatment. talk to and family of six people in four states to frack safely, and therefore reported. the legislature over whether The local district attor- members — particularly and serving a life prison sen- would support a ban. to forbid the controversial ney, police superintendent children — about the tence is trying to persuade and fi re chief are warning consequences of problem —The drilling method or extend a — The Washington Post PROVIDENCE JOURNAL | providencejournal.com | Sunday, March 19, 2017 A11 MARSHES From Page A1

coordinator at the Narragan- sett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Now, Raposa is almost exclusively studying the effects of rising seas on salt marshes. In his most recent paper, he collaborated with counterparts at 15 other research reserves around the country to compare regional differences in marsh health and create a first-of-its-kind index to assess their resil- ience to sea-level rise. The most vulnerable marshes were found to be in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. How bad is it? Another study that Raposa co- authored estimates that Southern New England is losing a greater percentage of marsh vegetation every year than even the fast-eroding Mississippi Delta. “We’re basically the hotspot for this,” Raposa says.

Tidal marshes play a vital role in the natural world, matched only by rainforests in their ability to support living organisms. They serve Kenneth Raposa, research coordinator at the Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, and reserve manager Bob Stankelis walk to Coggeshall Marsh, which, along with as nurseries for commercial Nag Marsh, are Prudence Island “sentinel sites,” where benchmark studies are being conducted. [THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL/BOB BREIDENBACH] and recreational fish species, feeding grounds for wading be as much of a threat if the birds and nesting areas for marsh could migrate inland to migratory birds. higher ground. But, even in a They filter water from place as lightly developed as contaminants and the nutri- Prudence Island, there are ents that can cause harmful roads and house lots that act algae blooms. And they act as barriers. as natural sponges that soak Raposa is conducting field up floodwaters from heavy studies on the best ways to and barriers that pro- encourage marsh migra- tect inland areas from coastal tion. If woods are thinned storms and wind-driven or cleared, will the marsh be surges. able to take their place? He Marshes have lined is also monitoring projects the Rhode Island coast for elsewhere in Rhode Island thousands of years, but they that have raised marshes exist only in a narrow set of by spreading sand on top of conditions. If the elevation of them and then replanting a marsh relative to the sea is Then and now: A test plot at Coggeshall Marsh, Prudence Island, that Raposa monitors annually, shows smooth cordgrass (left) several years ago. areas. too low, water pools on the A 2016 photo shows that as the plants die, there’s nothing to hold the mud and peat in place. [KENNETH RAPOSA PHOTOS] “Just conserving the surface, plants drown, and marshes now is not enough,” the marsh washes away. If Coit says. of a salt marsh Sediment Patience Island the elevation is too high, the deposited by Raposa nods. Many of marsh dries out and becomes Healthy marsh receding tide Rhode Island’s marshes a meadow or woodland. Coggeshall won’t survive on their own. Sediment A marsh will naturally In a healthy salt marsh, marsh “We’re past that,” he says. deposited Marsh grow higher as tides deposit some grasses are from land sand and silt, and plants die submerged twice a day run-off Nag “Pin one: One fifty-three,” marshMarsh back to build up an underly- at high tide. As the tide Raposa calls out. “Pin two: ing layer of peat, but Raposa Marsh grass One fifty-six. Pin three: One drains, it deposits has found that in Rhode Peat fifty-three.” Island the rate of growth sediments. This helps Narragansett He reads off six more num- averages less than a tenth of build up the marsh, Bay bers so Stankelis can write Prudence an inch a year. Since 1999, allowing it to keep pace Receding them down. Each number marsh Island seas have risen in the state with rising sea levels. measures the height in mil- at about three times that rate. grasses PORTSMOUTH limeters of a rod threaded While a cadre of scientists through the arm of a device Threatened marsh are documenting this change Weakened 1 MILE called a surface elevation and working to respond, per- When marsh growth cannot banks table, or SET, that’s used to GATEHOUSE MEDIA haps nobody is as responsible keep up with rising seas, the gauge marsh growth. as Raposa for proving the marsh cannot fully drain after a On this overcast day in connection between sea level One study March, Raposa wears hip rise and the degradation of high tide. Grasses drown and waders and a pair of ripped the underlying sediments wash marshes. Mud estimates that jeans that may have been blue “In Rhode Island, people away. Without grass to flats once. He kneels on a wooden didn’t realize the wetlands strengthen them, peat banks Southern New plank suspended across a pair were disappearing until he weaken and begin to slough off Marsh of milk crates to keep him drew their attention to it,” cannot England is losing a from disturbing this part of as the marsh recedes inland. says Elizabeth Watson, a fully drain greater percentage 37-acre Nag Marsh. wetlands ecologist at Drexel “One footstep would ruin University in Philadelphia Source: Narragansett Bay Estuarine of marsh your data forever,” he says. who has studied the state’s Research Reserve Association This is the crux of his work. marshes and worked with THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL/TOM MURPHY vegetation every He has set up SETs at six loca- Raposa. year than even tions in Nag Marsh, which Joanna Carey, a salt-marsh that operate in a partner- administration proposing a stretches across the middle ecologist at Babson Col- ship between the National Aerial maps hang along a total elimination of funding the fast-eroding part of Prudence Island, and lege in Boston who has also Oceanic and Atmospheric hallway in the offices of the for all the estuary reserves. another six in Coggeshall done research with Raposa, Administration and their Narragansett Bay reserve. Even if the cut were tem- Mississippi Delta. Marsh. He takes measure- describes his work as “criti- host states. They show how Prudence porary and funding were to ments every year. cal in determining what is The Narragansett Bay Island has changed from the be restored under a future Raposa is not expecting going on.” reserve plays a unique role mid-20th century when the administration, the damage to see any growth on this “Rhode Island is very lucky among Rhode Island’s Navy used it as an ammuni- would be lasting. day. In fact, there are signs to have him working on this scientific institutions, facili- tion depot and in the years “If you have a large data In sediment core samples — of the opposite. Edges of the topic,” she says. tating decades-long research after the reserve was created gap, you lose a lot of value,” cylinders of soil removed for marsh are denuded of plants that hasn't been subject to as wildlife habitat has slowly Stankelis says. testing — it stands out as a and pockmarked with holes Kenneth Bryan Raposa is a short-term budget cycles. been restored. Coit goes with Raposa, white line. The growth rate of dug by purple marsh crabs, boyish 46-year-old prone Doing that research requires The last map in the row Stankelis and others to a marsh can be calculated by which are proliferating in to wearing baseball caps patience. For Raposa, imagines how the island Coggeshall Marsh, which, measuring the material above the changing environment. and carrying a mug of luke- that meant year after year would look in 2100 if seas along with Nag Marsh, is one the line. Their burrows only weaken warm coffee. A native of of examining plants and continue to rise at an acceler- of the island’s two “sentinel Raposa put the feldspar the marsh, and portions are the Riverside section of measuring marsh heights ated rate. It shows a narrow sites,” where benchmark here in 2012, but it is still vis- sloughing off into the water East Providence, he spent before he could publish any bridge of land underwater, studies are being conducted. ible on the marsh surface. channels. childhood days exploring findings. splitting the island in two. “Nothing’s being depos- Raposa crosses a road to the marshes around Bullock But he is making up for “We’re going to have Pru- Raposa explains that this ited,” he says. where the marsh continues Cove with a cousin in search it now. His study on veg- dence north and Prudence marsh at the north end of the And because the seas are around Nag Pond. of crabs. etation changes caused by south unless we do some- island is showing barely any rising faster in the Northeast As he nears the water’s After getting his doctorate rising seas — which resulted thing,” reserve manager Bob growth. The waters of South- than just about anywhere , he stops mid-stride at at the University of Rhode from that “aha” moment in Stankelis says. ern New England carry only else on the planet — due in the sight of a tiny island in Island, where he focused on 2012 — has been followed It’s a chilly December small amounts of sand and part to changes in Atlan- the pond that is little more marsh restoration, he started by a flurry of seven other afternoon and Janet Coit, soil, so marshes in the region tic Ocean currents — this than a mudflat. As recently as working at the Narragansett papers. The culmination is director of the state Depart- tend to gain elevation at an 62-acre marsh is gradually last summer, it was covered Bay research reserve in 2000. a coming issue of the scien- ment of Environmental excruciatingly slow pace. flooding. Pools of water stand in smooth cordgrass, but the Founded in 1980, the tific journal Estuaries and Management, is visiting to He gestures to a small on barren soil. Salt marsh plants have died off. reserve covers 4,400 acres Coasts entirely devoted to get an update on ongoing square of marshland that hay is retreating and even It's the first time Raposa of protected land on Pru- the effects of climate change research at the reserve. The he coated in a thin layer of smooth cordgrass, which is has seen it like this. He is dence, Patience, Hope and on wetlands that he has - DEM pays 30 percent of the white feldspar to serve as a more water-tolerant, can't nearly speechless. Dyer islands, a -archi- ten with Watson, Carey and reserve’s budget with the marker horizon, a baseline survive these conditions. As “That is just stunning,” he pelago in the Bay nestled other scientists. balance coming from federal against which to measure the plants die, there's noth- says. between Portsmouth and “It took a long time to get funds. marsh growth. In a healthy ing to hold the mud and peat North Kingstown. It is here,” Raposa says. “And The federal share of about marsh, as time passes, the in place, so the pools grow — akuffner@providence- part of a federal network of now the data are all explod- $600,000 is now under chalky clay should gradually wider and deeper. journal.com estuary research facilities ing at the same time.” threat, with the Trump be covered by dirt and peat. The rising waters wouldn’t (401) 277-7457