Thanks, BasicPatrick - you've said what I thought, but Gawd knows the temptation is there
Unfortunately, all that kind of payback would do is put a bad spin on an already lousy situation for us as fishermen.
Eben, I know about the ban in Narragansett - that stinks. I've always joked that Rhode Island is the biggest small town in the country. How many towns are there in the state where a native (or naturalized) Rhode Islander doesn't know at least one person - or someone's cousin. I never cease to be amazed that when I run into someone that I don't know from another RI town or city, we always seem to know a number of the same people.
There are many of us who fish a number of different areas within RI - although personally I don't hit the mainland as much as I once did, I just don't have enough time these days- so whether it's an area we fish a little or a lot (or maybe even not at all), it behooves ALL of us to defend our rights as a group. I love Newport as a fourth generation native here but damn, South County is pretty special. So's the Island....and so on and so on. I hate to see it being taken away from us bit by bit. It's the thin edge of the wedge at work.
Ultimately, an access issue ANYWHERE in the state sets a precedent and then affects us all.
When ya think about it, we've all got a helluva lot in common, both as Rhode Islanders and fishermen (and women) - and that is our right to fish unimpeded by ANYONE at our access points. Our state has a REAL strong tradition of defending our rights to access the shoreline. It was written into the state charter 300 years (or so) ago. The recent arrivees are just going to have to be educated about our rights - we already know what they are.
You've got one area on Tuckerman in Middletown where the abutting landowner has erected a chain-link fence across a delineated public access path. And the town (or state) simply needs to send in a backhoe to rectify that situation.
And now you've got a couple of people on the other side of the point who truly believe that buying a house lot gives them the right to pursue a de facto denial of access to a spot by way of parking restrictions.
If memory serves (and at times I gotta admit it's doesn't exactly serve with distinction), Middletown has
already been through the Tuckerman parking ban issue and restored open parking there some years ago.
Then you've got the Jamestown bridge area in potential trouble too due to high-priced development.
And you guys that like to fish the Light, wait until they start developing that 13 acre parcel in Watch Hill.
This really isn't gonna end anytime soon. And I wouldn't wanna have to tell my kids or grandkids a few years down the road that I saw it happening and didn't do a goddamned thing about it.
Personally, I think it's high time to circle the wagons and cover each others backs - we've gonna have to fight and remind the 'nouveau seaside cottage' folks that it's "not for nothin' " that they used to call this Rogue's Island.
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