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News Release RI Department of Environmental Management 235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908 (401) 222-2771 TDD/(401) 222-4462
DEM ACQUIRES THIRD "MARSH WALKER" FOR HABITAT RESTORATION AND MOSQUITO CONTROL PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management announces the acquisition of a third low ground pressure vehicle to complement the two "Marsh Walker"-type vehicles now used for habitat restoration in sensitive areas where traditional vehicles would destroy vegetation.DEM's so-called "Marsh Walkers" are odd and unique vehicles, designed with out-sized, extra-wide tracks. It looks as though their tracks would crush a marsh, while, in fact, the opposite is true. The size of their tracks spreads the load to two pounds per square foot of pressure, or less than one person's body weight. The new vehicle, an ASV Scout, is a rubber-tracked truck, somewhat larger than a golf cart. Alan Gettman, DEM's mosquito abatement coordinator, plans to fit it with a dump bed, so it can be used for transporting materials out of sensitive areas. That job currently must be done by hand. The new vehicle joins one designed like a Bobcat, purchased in 1999 as an oil spill response tool, and an excavator acquired in 2005, whose tracks were modified in-house by Gettman. Both vehicles have been used extensively, both by Gettman and by public works officials throughout the state, to clean out clogged ditches, fill in non-functional ditches, restore marshes, improve and create fish reservoirs, and for similar mosquito control operations. "The acquisition of this new vehicle with its dump bed capability complements our existing low ground pressure vehicles and will be of tremendous benefit in protecting public health by reducing mosquito breeding habitat in a more efficient manner," Gettman said. "I am extremely pleased that with the added help of the Rhode Island Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership, we were able to finalize purchase of this valuable commodity." Funding for the $30,000 low impact ground vehicle included $12,500 from federal Centers for Disease Control West Nile Virus funds through the RI Department of Health, $12,500 from oil spill habitat restoration funds managed by the Coastal Resources Management Council, and $5,000 from the Rhode Island Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership. The Partnership, established in 2001, is a public-private partnership between Rhode Island corporations, government agencies and non-profit environmental groups working together to fund the restoration of degraded wetlands, rivers and fish and wildlife habitat throughout the ocean state. -30- |
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