ESPN

TIVERTON, R.I. — A decision by Rhode Island's environmental chief to close a public boat ramp to motorboats for the sake of preserving water quality on a 476-acre pond might jeopardize the state's $2.9 million annual share of Sport Fish Restoration Funds.

The flashpoint for this controversy is Stafford Pond, the drinking water supply for the city of Tiverton's 8,000 residents. In addition to drinking water, the lake also supports a quality sport fishery that has been popular with anglers for the past 50 years.

Following a town meeting last spring, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) Director Jan Reitsma announced the lake's only launch ramp would be closed to all boats except for those powered by electric motors. Before the ruling, boats powered by 10-horsepower outboards or less were allowed access to the ramp and the lake.

But the ruling allows lakefront property owners with private docks to continue using motorboats on the lake. What's more, a private marina on the lake can allow its members to launch gas-powered boats for an access fee. On a lesser scale, a seaplane routinely uses the lake for takeoffs and landings.

Reitsma based his decision on the presumption that gasoline-powered engines pose a threat to the water quality of the town's only source of drinking water. Ironically, a 1996-2000 study conducted by the DEM to identify sources of declining water quality in the lake did not list gasoline-powered boats as a threat. Instead, the study identified the primary sources of pollution as runoff from a nearby dairy farm and two storm drains built by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.

The study results were published in "Protecting Stafford Pond," part of a project funded by the federal Clean Water Act and supported by residents and the Rhode Island B.A.S.S. Federation, among others. Over the course of the five year study, gasoline-powered boats were purposely driven in close proximity to water quality collection sites. Routine samples collected and analyzed at the University of Rhode Island showed no evidence of hydrocarbon pollutants.

"This pond is small in the big scheme of things. But it just shows how this situation could happen all over the country," said Federation President Roger Pray, who has fished Stafford Pond for the last 30 years.

Although the ruling came down last summer, Pray has continued to employ firm perseverance while methodically and courteously prodding the DEM and other state agencies, including the Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW). And while they have thumbed their noses at Pray, he may have found the loophole needed to bring about action to the problem at a higher level.

What Pray found was that property for the closed boat ramp was purchased in 1956 using Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration funds. What follows are comments from a letter sent to DFW fisheries chief John Stolgitis by Robert J. Sousa, chief of federal aid for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

"It is our opinion that the State's regulation is contrary to Federal Aid regulations. This regulation stipulates that real property acquired or constructed with Federal Aid funds must continue to serve the purposes for which acquired or constructed."

Sousa concludes the letter by adding: "In order not to jeopardize continued receipt of your Sport Fishing funds ($2,942,000 in FY 2002), we ask that you cease promulgation of this regulation."

"To me, what that means is that anglers and hunters own the access, not the town," said Pray. "They have paid and continue to pay for it with fishing and hunting license monies."

Pray and Sousa's concerns prompted a letter from Dr. Mamie A. Parker, USFWS regional director. Her letter to Reitsma said: "Because riparian landowners with private access may still launch, haul, operate and dock boats with motors of any kind on the pond, this action discriminates against the constituents providing the funding for the facility and stocking the pond through federal excise taxes."

A silver lining to this otherwise bane controversy is that the final term of lame duck Gov. Lincoln Almond and his administration is coming to a close. Time only will tell how the new administration deals with a small town controversy that has ended up at the federal level.

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