The Town Council, at its meeting Wednesday night, established a group to consider and address the management of the Black Rock/Rodman's Hollow area, an area with multiple owners, indistinct responsibilities and heavy user impacts.

Some of the land is owned by the town, some by The Nature Conservancy, but most by the state. On top of the fee ownership is a layer of conservation easements, held mostly by the town and the state.

And finally, there is, at some level, an agreement that the town and the state shall jointly manage the area. Indeed, a proposed joint-management plan was drafted in 1986 but was never formalized.

The state Department of Environmental Management did write a plan for management of the natural resources that the town finally signed in 1997, an agreement that has resulted in turning much shrubland into grassy fields again.

But this plan does not address the people problems: heavy use by hikers, fishermen, surfers and illegal campers, illegal use of motor bikes and all-terrain vehicles on Greenway trails, and use of a private road to reach the Black Rock area.

These have been discussed at periodic meetings of town and conservation officials. In March, representatives of the DEM joined those discussions, acknowledged a state responsibility, and asked for local guidance.

The task force will consist of two council members (First Warden Richard Kiley and Second Warden Martha Ball), representatives of the DEM, The Nature Conservancy, the Block Island Conservancy, the Block Island Land Trust and two neighboring property owners.