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The Department of Environmental Management's Division of Fish and Wildlife will hold a public workshop to discuss the proposed 2009-2010 freshwater fishing seasons and the 2008-2009 hunting seasons and bag limits on Wednesday, May 28 at 6:30 p.m. at the Stedman Government Center on Route 1 in Wakefield. In addition, proposed changes to the Parks and Management Area Regulations will also be heard.
A public hearing on the proposed regulations will be held on Tuesday, June 10 at 7 p.m. in the Warwick Police Department's Community Room at 99 Veteran's Memorial Drive in Warwick.
There are proposed changes to permit requirements for fishing tournaments. There are no other proposed regulatory changes for the freshwater fishing seasons except for calendar shift date changes.
The Division is also proposing changes to boating regulations for state launching ramps and horsepower requirements.
Regarding the pheasant season, the Division is proposing to allow a youth pheasant weekend prior to opening day.
There are several proposed changes to the hunting regulations, primarily regarding deer hunting. Lotteries will no longer be required to hunt state lands on Prudence Island or the Francis Carter Cooperative Archery Deer Hunt. The proposed quota on Prudence Island has been reduced to 50 in conjunction with the reduced herd size. DEM remains committed to managing the growing deer population by focusing on the harvest of female deer. Most of the other changes are strictly date changes reflecting the calendar shift.
The Division is also proposing regulations to govern the use of air gun rifles for small game species.
There are also proposed changes to the target range regulations.
Copies of the proposals are available on DEM's website, www.dem.ri.gov, by clicking on "Regulations" then "Proposed Regulations" then "June 10th Public Hearing" from the homepage. They are also available on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife office at the Stedman Government Center at 4808 Tower Hill Road in Wakefield.
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