New England Chapter Opposes Watered-Down CRMC Reform Bills in Rhode Island
For the last several years the New England Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers has advocated to reform Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC). After first weighing in in 2022, BHA’s Rhode Island team elevated the issue as a top policy priority in 2024 and 2025 and has participated in every public input opportunity related to the Council’s structure since then.
During their 2025 legislative session several CRMC reform bills have been considered by RI’s General Assembly, including a pair that would accomplish BHA’s priority of eliminating CRMC’s politically appointed council and transferring their authority to the agency’s staff. In supporting H5706/S775 BHA shared extensive rationale with legislators to support the change, including the politically-appointed council’s chronic inability to hold a full schedule of meetings, repeated failures to issue timely decisions on permitting and enforcement matters, and the increasing number of council decisions that have been overturned in RI’s courts. To put it simply, CRMC’s politically appointed council structure does not work in its current form.
Unfortunately, RI’s political leadership appears to have prioritized alternative CRMC reform bills H6126A/S998A introduced by Representative Alex Finkelman and Senator V. Susan Sosnowski respectively, which have been scheduled for votes in the House Committee on State Government & Elections and Senate Committee on Environment & Agriculture on Wednesday, June 18. Rather than eliminating the Council, these bills lower the bar for gathering a quorum by reducing membership from 10 to 7 and alter the requirements to serve on the Council by requiring certain expertise and background.
While these changes may seem like improvements at first glance, they are far from it. In addition to advocating to reform CRMC, BHA has spent years monitoring and participating in CRMC’s permitting and enforcementactions, and we regularly see “experts” appear before the Council on behalf of those who are well-funded and politically connected to subvert the public’s interests by challenging and disputing the findings of CRMC’s staff, which is also comprised of experts. Given that appointment to CRMC is almost always a privilege reserved for the politically connected, the passage of H6126A/S998A all but ensures that those “experts” can move from the testimony table to the Council itself, where they would have direct decision-making authority over RI’s coastal resources.
When H6126/S998 were heard in their respective legislative committees earlier this year BHA strongly opposed their passage alongside a coalition of organizations, individuals, and former council members. While BHA will continue to engage productively within whatever agency structure exists following the 2025 legislative session, we maintain our opposition and our volunteers will be in the RI State House urging legislators to oppose H6126A/S998A until the final votes are cast.
Read BHA’s Comments Opposing H6126/S998
Arkansas BHA Chapter
The Arkansas Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is the voice for Arkansas' three million acres of wild public lands, waters, and wildlife. Through advocacy, education, and collaboration, the chapter strives to safeguard Arkansas's outdoor heritage.
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The Arkansas Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is the voice for Arkansas' three million acres of wild public lands, waters, and wildlife. Through advocacy, education, and collaboration, the chapter strives to safeguard Arkansas's outdoor heritage.
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