Teacher Susan Riccio of the Carl G. Lauro School in Providence leads her class on a visit of the Canonchet Farm in Narragansett. You can take a walking tour of the farm this month.

The Providence Journal / John Freidah

Grover Fugate, executive director of the state’s Coastal Resources Management Council for 22 years, has been given a lifetime achievement award by the Rhode Island Sea Grant program.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed presented the award to Fugate during the seventh annual Marine Law Symposium at Roger Williams University on Oct. 24.

Fugate heads a staff that regulates all coastal development in Rhode Island. He is also leading an unprecedented $3.2-million program to map Rhode Island’s coastal waters to prepare for development of offshore wind farms.

“Grover is not only an extraordinary public servant, for which I admire him greatly, but he’s one of the reasons we have so much to be pleased and proud of in this state,” said Reed. “No one has been more instrumental in cleaning, preserving and restoring Narragansett Bay and more importantly, done it right for 20 years. And he’s done it with decency, respect and integrity that has made all the difference.”

State Rep. Eileen Naughton, D-Warwick, and chair of the Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources, and Kenneth Payne, former policy director of the state Senate, presented Fugate with congratulatory proclamations.

Naughton cited Fugate’s work on six special area management plans for coastal areas around the state, the council’s Urban Coastal Greenway policy and the development of its Marine Resources Development Plan.

“Twenty-two years is a long time and Grover has filled each of those years with some amazing things,” said Naughton.

Grover has an enormous capacity for creative thinking,” Payne said. “We measure his success not only by the good things he’s done, but also by all of the squirrelly things he’s prevented from being done. Imagine what our state would be like without him.”

Sea Grant has given out only one other lifetime achievement award, and that went to Virginia Lee at the state’s Coastal Resources Center.

Fugate said he was “immensely honored” by the award. He thanked CRMC’s staff, the council, the state’s political leadership and people at the state’s universities for their support.

Walk Narragansett’s Canonchet Farm

Two guided walks are scheduled this month at Canonchet Farm in Narragansett.

Today, the public is invited to explore the geologic features of the Canonchet Farm area with state geologist and URI geoscience Prof. Jon Boothroyd.

On Sunday, Nov. 30, explorers are invited to discover the many trails on Canonchet Farm on a walk in the woods led by Friends of Canonchet Farm trustee Kathie Kelleher. This walk can be any length up to two miles as there as several return points.

Both walks start at 1 p.m. at Anne Hoxsie Lane directly across from Narragansett Town Beach South Pavilion and end about 3 p.m.

For information, call (401) 783-3951.

Thirteen groups receive animal welfare awards

Thirteen projects earned support totaling $260,927 from the Program for Animal Welfare at The Rhode Island Foundation.

Recipients of the 2008 Program for Animal Welfare awards are:

•Animal Rescue League of Southern Rhode Island, $18,350, to continue development and expansion of the organization’s Humane Education Program that teaches prevention of animal abuse, neglect and abandonment to preschool and elementary school children in Washington County

•Mystic Marinelife Aquarium/Sea Research Foundation Inc., $5,000, for the Stranding Outreach and Education Program in Rhode Island communities and schools. The program offers comprehensive information about stranding activity and response, rescue and rehabilitation efforts and the causal factors that may contribute to this behavior

•Potter League for Animals, based in Middletown and serving Newport County, $37,500 toward the construction and furnishing of a classroom in the organization’s new animal shelter and education center

•Providence After School Alliance, $40,000, to expand upon the “Pets and Vets” after-school program for Providence middle school students

•Norman Bird Sanctuary, $7,500, to create a protective sand berm along Third Beach Road in Middletown and improve the habitat for piping plovers and other nesting birds

•PawsWatch Cat Rescue, $38,813, for continued support of its Trap, Neuter, Return and Monitor program that seeks to provide a humane and positive method of reducing the growing number of feral cats in communities throughout the state

•Providence Animal Rescue League, $25,000, to replace the climate control and air handling systems in the animal housing areas and surgery rooms

•Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, $11,350, to install new flooring in the dog kennel

•Rhode Island Veterinary Medical Association, $4,914, to partner with Foster Parrots to study an outbreak of chlamydia psittaci in a group of 27 parrots, evaluate treatment strategies, and improve understanding of the disease’s transmission to humans

•Rhode Island Veterinary Medical Association Companion Animal Foundation, $40,000, to support the organization’s fundraising for its endowment, specifically to promote matching gifts for the endowed account

•Rhode Island Zoological Society, $2,500, to acquire a tono pen and related equipment to assist with early diagnosis of glaucoma in the animals at Roger Williams Park Zoo

•Stand Up for Animals, $20,000, for the Westerly organization’s final phase of its building campaign

•Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island, $10,000, to provide appropriate critical care medical equipment and help pay for staff to care for injured or ill wildlife birds and mammals.

The awards are made possible through six permanent endowments at the foundation, all intended to support animal welfare and treatment programs — the Virginia B. Butler Fund, the Abbie A. Brougham Memorial Fund, the John B. and Ruth L. Kilton Fund, the Helen Walker Raleigh Fund for Animals, the Dawn, Gregg and Leland Weingeroff Fund and the Mary Lou Crandall Fund.

The Program for Animal Welfare offers two grant opportunities for which proposals are considered throughout the year. For information, contacting Owen Heleen, senior community philanthropy officer, through e-mail, oheleen@rifoundation.org, or by calling (401) 274-4564 or visit www.rifoundation.org.

The Environmental Journal is a listing of brief news items about the actions of individuals, organizations and businesses that affect the air we breathe, the water we drink and the landscape that surrounds us. If you have comments or suggestions, please contact environment reporter Peter B. Lord at 277-8036, or by email at plord@projo.com or by writing him, care of the Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, R.I. 02902.

plord@projo.com