URI Recreation & Tourism Study - Block Island Wind Farm

[DZ]

I've been invited to participate in this study representing the Block Island Surfcasting Community. Looking for input from any of you in the context of whether/how the Block Island Wind Farm has affected your island surfcasting. Other participants will be covering boat fishing, etc. Our first meeting is Monday November 20th.


Dear Mr. Zambrotta,

We are reaching out to you because of your experience related to recreational fishing. I am part of a team at the University of Rhode Island researching how the Block Island Wind Farm is affecting recreation and tourism – including the recreational fishing industry. Would you be interested in joining a small group of your peers for a series of focus group meetings in which you can share your experience and expertise on how the wind farm affects the recreational fishing industries. In addition to the opportunity to talk with your colleagues about your experiences, this meeting will provide you with an update from Rhode Island Sea Grant on the very latest in U.S. east coast offshore wind energy development.

Here is some additional information about our study that may help you:

What is this study about and who is paying for it? Our two-year study, “Identifying Indicators of Offshore Wind Benefits: An Analysis of the Effects of the Block Island Wind Farm on Rhode Island Recreation and Tourism Activities,” is funded by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). You can view the project fact sheet here. Through this study we are documenting the impacts of the wind farm on recreation and tourism and suggesting ways they might measure such impacts in the future. Our team is collecting information about wind farm impacts by reviewing media and public documents, observing tourists around the wind farm, and holding focus groups with representatives of five different recreation and tourism sectors. The sectors are Block Island tourism; South County tourism; charter excursions; recreational fishing; and recreational boating and sailing.

What is the point of the focus groups? In our focus groups, we would like to hear from experienced fishermen about how the wind farm has, or has not, affected their recreation and tourism activities and/or businesses, and to get their feedback on our research findings and proposed indicators. We would like to meet with each group twice. In the first 90-minute meeting, you will talk with your peers and our research team about what you have experienced and observed during the 2017 season. In the second meeting, we will share some of what we have learned, as well as our proposed indicators, so that you can provide your feedback.

How will you use my input? With the consent of focus group participants, we will audio record the sessions and transcribe them for analysis. We won’t share use your name in any reports or publications, but because this is a focus group, we can’t guarantee complete confidentiality (this research has been approved by the University of Rhode Island Institutional Review Board). We will then use this information to propose socioeconomic indicators (ways of measuring impacts) to help regulators, industry, communities, and researchers measure the impacts of offshore renewable energy facilities, such as wind farms, on recreation and tourism activities in Rhode Island and in other locations.

Why should I participate? You will have the chance to talk and brainstorm with your colleagues about how the wind farm affects your industry/activity, and the research team will share a synthesis of this information with decision-makers so that it can inform future wind farm planning and permitting. This is your opportunity to help the research team develop indicators that will be used to track the impacts of wind farms on your industry/activity and to plan for future offshore renewable energy projects. During each session the research team will share what we’ve already learned during this study. Additionally, Rhode Island Sea Grant will provide a short update about progress on other offshore wind farm proposals in the region, which may be of interest to you and your colleagues.