10/16/2025
WisBiz Green Blog
Rights Of Nature
By Gregg Hoffmann
A group of Democratic state lawmakers recently unveiled “rights of nature” legislation that would give natural features like lakes and forests their own legal standing.
The proposal was presented at a news conference on Indigenous People’s Day, Oct.13.
The Ho-Chunk Nation includes a right-of-nature provision in its tribal constitution and the Menominee Nation has adopted legislation recognizing the rights of the Menominee River.
The rights of nature proposal seeks to protect Devil’s Lake State Park, specifically, while a more general resolution encourages the state to affirm the rights of all natural resources in Wisconsin.
The resolution also calls on local governments to adopt their own rights of nature principle. It counters a new GOP bill that would stop local governments from introducing such ordinances. That bill’s sponsors say those local laws could undermine the country’s founding legal principles, which recognize the rights of people.
The right of nature bill mirrors a 1997 Wisconsin law, which was signed by Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson. Republican lawmakers repealed the law in 2017. Republican Gov. Scott Walker signed the repeal of the 1997 requirements.
If passed, the right of nature law would make Wisconsin one of several governmental bodies to have such laws. In Wisconsin, Milwaukee County became the first in 2023 and so far only local government in Wisconsin to have adopted a rights of nature resolution. The Green Bay Common Council has explored the possibility.
Since 2006, local municipal rights of nature laws have been enacted in the U.S. This includes in 2010 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in 2017 in Lafayette, Colorado. Lafayette’s 2017 law recognizes that ecosystems “possess a right to a healthy climate.”
In November 2020, the voters of Orange County, Florida, approved of the first rights of nature law in the state. The Orange County law recognizes the rights of rivers and other waterways “to exist, Flow, to be protected against Pollution and to maintain a healthy ecosystem.”
In 2008, Ecuador included Rights of Nature to its new Constitution: “Nature, or Pacha Mama, where life is reproduced and occurs, has the right to integral respect for its existence and for the maintenance and regeneration of its life cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes. All persons, communities, peoples and nations can call upon public authorities to enforce the rights of nature. To enforce and interpret these rights, the principles set forth in the Constitution shall be observed, as appropriate.”
A second Article in the Ecuador Constitution reads: “Nature has the right to be restored. This restoration shall be apart from the obligation of the State and natural persons or legal entities to compensate individuals and communities that depend on affected natural systems.”
In 2010, Bolivia enacted its national Law on the Rights of Mother Earth, Law 071. The law protects the “rights of Mother Earth to life, water, clean air, to be pollution free, and to restoration.”
Uganda adopted the National Environment Act in 2019. It codifies the rights of nature in Part I, Section 4. Under the Act, nature possesses “the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution.”
In New Zealand, the Māori iwi and the national government have negotiated agreements to recognize rights of certain ecosystems. The agreements have been adopted into law by New Zealand’s Parliament. This includes the Te Urewera Act of 2014, a former national park that is the home of the Tūhoe. The Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act of 2017, states that the river “is a legal person and has all the rights, powers, duties, and liabilities of a legal person.”
In 2021, the Magpie River (Muteshekau-shipu in the Innu language) in Canada was recognized as possessing legal rights through resolutions adopted by the Innu Council of Ekuanitsh*t and the Minganie Regional County Municipality.
Other countries in the world have similar laws. The Rights of Nature Law Library, housed in the Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights, in Spokane, Washington, maintains information about rights of nature laws worldwide.
It should be noted that efforts to establish such laws often have been led by indigenous people. The Wisconsin proposal has such backers.
Anahkwet, who also goes by Guy Reiter, is an activist and member of the Menominee Nation. He spoke in favor of the proposal on Oct, 13, while appearing with legislative sponsors including Rep. Vincent Miresse, D-Stevens Point, Angelito Tenorio, D- West Allis, and state Rep. Ryan Clancy, D-Milwaukee.
“Nature is not property. It’s our relative,” Anahkwet said. “You cannot poison the water without poisoning our children. You cannot clear cut the forest without cutting down our future.”
The proposal has an uphill battle, with a Republican controlled Legislature that includes several conservatives. But, the timing might be favorable since mining has become a topic for discussion and debate in recent weeks. (See a WisBiz Green Blog on Oct. 8).
The rights of nature proposal would restore restrictions on hard rock mining. That’s the practice of extracting nickel, gold and copper from sulfide ore. Under the proposal, which sponsors refer to as a “prove it first” bill, the DNR would only be allowed to grant a permit for sulfide mining if a company submits proof of its prior environmental record.
GreenLight Metals announced it has found deposits of gold, copper, and tellurium near Medford. Environmental advocates and tribal groups have expressed concerns about potential acid mine drainage and impacts on cultural sites.
“Today, we are looking to recommit (to) the legacy of protecting Wisconsin’s lakes, rivers, drinking water,” Tenorio said at the Oct. 13 media conference. “Clean water is Wisconsin’s greatest resource, alongside our people, alongside our air alongside our land.”
WisBiz Green will follow the rights of nature proposal, as well as the mining issue, in blogs and its portal system in weeks and months to come.
