| January 3, 2024 |
| WE WANTED TO SHARE THIS WITH YOU FROM OUR FRIENDS AT THE RIGHTS OF NATURE WISCONSIN Our newsletter begins the new year with exciting, breaking news. Then an overview of who we are and what we do, Next, to contrast what has gone wrong in environmental law and what the Rights of Nature movement is accomplishing, we bring you articles on both aspects. Finally, there’s news on a poster and a speaking contest on conservation awareness for students in grades 5 through 12. 2024 will be a critical year on many fronts; it’s also a year in which the Rights of Nature can accelerate our effect on saving and recovering our natural world. |
| Breaking News |
 Inside Climate NewsJan 1, 2024, Ireland Could Become the Next Nation to Recognize the Rights of Nature and a Human Right to a Clean EnvironmentIreland—a nation synonymous with its abundant, verdant landscapes—is considering a nationwide referendum on the rights of nature and the human right to a healthy environment. If that happens, Ireland would become the first European country to constitutionally recognize that ecosystems, similar to humans and corporations, possess legal rights. More than two-thirds of the 27 European Union countries already recognize a universal human right to a healthy environment. We’ve been recognized!! Note this paragraph in the article: In October, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin recognized the rights of nature, noting that it was following the lead of the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin, which had previously recognized the inherent rights of the Menominee River to flourish and naturally exist. Read More |
| Our Story |
 We advocate for the Rights of Nature, an international movement giving plants, animals, rivers, mountains, oceans, and all ecosystems equal and intrinsic rights to exist, regenerate, evolve, and thrive.Our focus is Gaining formal and legal recognition for the Rights of Nature in an escalating series of legislative efforts developing and delivering educational materials, presentations, and forms of outreach relating to the Rights of Nature movement Read More |
 The Cool DownNov. 6, 2023New research reveals industry used 160 million pounds of ‘secret chemicals’ over past decade: ‘May just be the tip of the iceberg’New research revealed that oil and gas producers in Pennsylvania used “some 160 million pounds” of secret chemicals in more than 5,000 gas wells over the past decade, according to Inside Climate News. To make matters worse, the chemicals may have contained per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are described as “a toxic and pervasive class of chemicals.”Read More |
 Scientific AmericanJan. 1, 2024 Streams in Alaska are turning orange with iron and sulfuric acid. Scientists are trying to figure out why one of the most remote and undisturbed rivers in America, the Salmon has long been renowned for its unspoiled nature. When author John McPhee paddled the Salmon in 1975, it contained “the clearest, purest water I have ever seen flowing over rocks,” he wrote in Coming into the Country, an Alaska classic. A landmark 1980 conservation act designated it a wild and scenic river for what the government called “water of exceptional clarity,” deep, luminescent blue-green pools, and “large runs of chum and pink salmon.”Now, however, the Salmon is quite literally rusting. Tributary streams along one-third of the 110-kilometer river are full of oxidized iron minerals and, in many cases, acid. “It was a famous, pristine river ecosystem,” Sullivan said, “and it feels like it’s completely collapsing now.” Read More |
 Wisconsin Law JournalDec. 6, 2023Kohler golf course permit denied as Appeals Court upholds lower courtThe Wisconsin Court of Appeals has upheld the lower court’s decision to deny Kohler Co. a wetland permit to build the company’s sixth golf course on sacred Native American burial land that would also have had a widespread environmental impact, according to litigants.Read More |
 Good Good GoodDec 10, 2023A Native-Led Company Is Installing Solar Farms for Tribal Nations Across the USCody Two Bears, a member of the Sioux tribe in North Dakota, founded Indigenized Energy, a native-led energy company with a unique mission — installing solar farms for tribal nations in the United States.Read More |
 CDER – Center for Democratic and Environmental RightsRights of Manoomin (Wild Rice)In 2018, the White Earth Band of Ojibwe recognized the rights of manoomin (wild rice), the first law to recognize the legal rights of a plant species. In 2021, manoomin and the White Earth Band filed Manoomin, et.al., v. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, et.al. (Case No. GC21-0428) in the White Earth Tribal Court to enforce the rights of wild rice, the first rights of nature enforcement case to be brought in a tribal court. Read More |
 CDER – Center for Democratic and Environmental RightsLand That Owns ItselfThe Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights (CDER) has launched its Land That Owns Itself Program. This program is focused on transforming nature from human property to self-ownership and self-governance, separate from human interference and control. Read More |
 Wisconsin Land + Water67th Annual Conservation Poster & Speaking ContestThe 2024 NACD* Poster Contest theme is “May the Forest Be With You Always.”The Conservation Poster Contest is open to kindergarten through 12th-grade students and posters are evaluated on the following criteria: Conservation message Visual effectiveness Originality Universal appeal Individual artwork ————– * National Association of Conservation Districts Read More |