R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-5-1: Power to acquire land along tidewater.

The department of environmental management is authorized to acquire in fee simple from the state as authorized in § 46-5-1.1 or in the name of the state for the use and benefit of the public, by purchase or condemnation or by lease from time to time, any portion of real property, tide-flowed lands, plats, terms, easements, privileges, foreshore, riparian, and littoral rights of the owner or owners of them, bordering on tidewater in the state and as much of the uplands adjacent to the tide lands as the director of the department of environmental management deems expedient.