[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 13667]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO GROVER FUGATE

  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, today I wish to honor the career of 
one of Rhode Island's most respected ocean and coastal experts, my 
friend Grover Fugate.
  Grover has served as executive director of the Rhode Island Coastal 
Resources Management Council, CRMC, for nearly 30 years, protecting 
Rhode Island's coastal resources through research, regulation, and 
restoration.
  One of the shining jewels of CRMC's work has been its innovative 
Special Area Management Plans, or SAMPs. These plans are ecosystem-
based management strategies developed in collaboration with government 
agencies, municipalities, and other stakeholders to best manage coastal 
systems. During Mr. Fugate's tenure, the council has developed eight 
management plans, including the groundbreaking ocean SAMP, the first 
formally adopted ocean spatial plan in the country. The ocean SAMP 
guides future uses of Rhode Island's marine areas. In developing the 
plan, CRMC engaged a diverse group of stakeholders and laid the 
groundwork for cooperation among a multitude of regulatory agencies 
that led the way for the successful development of the Nation's first 
offshore wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island.
  The council has also helped Rhode Island towns and residents 
understand the increasing effects of sea level rise and storm surge. 
Using the latest climate change predictions and state of the art 
modeling, CRMC, in cooperation with the University of Rhode Island and 
others, developed an online tool, STORMTOOLS, that gives anyone with an 
Internet connection free access to information that can be used to help 
decide everything from what neighborhood to buy a home in to where to 
site a new stormwater treatment plant. Mr. Fugate has been a key leader 
in establishing STORMTOOLS and educating decisionmakers about the 
realities of sea level rise and flooding.
  In addition to his work for the Coastal Resources Management Council, 
Mr. Fugate serves as the State colead for the Northeast Regional Ocean 
Council's Ocean Planning initiative and the Northeast Regional Planning 
Body established under President Obama's 2010 Executive order. He also 
serves as adjunct faculty for the University of Rhode Island's marine 
affairs program and a guest lecturer of coastal and marine law at the 
Roger Williams University Law School.
  Mr. Fugate has earned many awards for his work, including the 2010 
Susan Snow-Cotter Award for Excellence in Ocean and Coastal Resource 
Management from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 
the 2010 Regional Sea Grant Outstanding Outreach Award, the 2008 
Coastal America Award for Habitat Restoration, and the 2008 Rhode 
Island Sea Grant Lifetime Achievement Award. He has authored numerous 
academic journal articles on coastal and natural resources management 
issues.
  Mr. Fugate's work on the ocean SAMP and Northeast Regional Planning 
Body has placed Rhode Island at the forefront of ocean planning and 
offshore wind development. He is a leader with a passion and commitment 
to protecting ocean and coastal resources. His technical expertise, 
ability to foster good working relationships with key stakeholders, and 
talent for finding solutions within the existing regulatory framework 
are a few of the many reasons I wish today to recognize him.

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