“Ethical Markets applauds the Mayor of Crestone, Colorado for proclaiming the Town’s recognition of the rights of nature and for welcoming the Teyuna Elders and honoring their visit to Crestone. The legal debates about recognizing the rights of nature began in the 1970s with discussions of whether trees had rights and standing in US courts and in Congress with pioneer legislator, Congressmember Claudine Schneider (R. Rhode Island), who is now and esteemed member of our global Advisory Board. Today, public interest law firms like Client Earth are protecting Nature’s rights worldwide. Let’s keep progressing along this path!
~Hazel Henderson, Editor”
Town of Crestone, Colorado Takes Bold Step by Recognizing the Inherent Rights of Nature
“We humans can no longer fail to acknowledge, to protect, and to preserve the rights of nature,” said Crestone’s Mayor, Kairina Danforth. “Our community is humbled to join in this clarion call to recognize officially that nature, natural ecosystems, communities, and all species possess intrinsic and inalienable rights which must be effectuated to protect life on Earth.”
In addition to recognizing the rights of nature, the resolution also highlights the long-standing relationship between the Crestone community and its natural environment, which it states provides them with “nourishment, inner peace, and spiritual renewal.” The resolution goes on to state that residents “reciprocate these gifts by serving as stewards of the natural environment.”
In conceiving and drafting the resolution, Crestone consulted numerous experts, including longtime Crestone visitor and “Earth Jurisprudence” advocate Myra L. Jackson, leading rights of nature group Earth Law Center, the U.N. Harmony with Nature program, and the attorney who drafted Santa Monica’s rights of nature law, Marsha Moutrie. Additionally, the local newspaper, the Crestone Eagle, fostered important community dialogue on the initiative.
Said Ms. Jackson of the resolution, “In a rural town such as Crestone, where the beauty and vibrancy of nature is a transcendent value and prime attractor, recognizing the rights of nature is a way for a municipal government to make visible our deeply felt desire to live in harmony with nature.” Ms. Jackson added that she is working with other towns who are encouraged by Crestone’s success. “The courage of Crestone’s Mayor and Board of Trustees has lit a fire.”
Crestone is nestled along the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, which enclose one side of the San Luis Valley—the world’s largest alpine valley and a region renowned for its natural beauty. Crestone has about 150 residents, although more than 2,000 people live in the greater Crestone-Baca area. Over 2,000 people per year also visit Crestone for spiritual enlightenment from the town’s 23 spiritual centers, representing Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Native American traditions, and other belief systems.
2
Crestone’s resolution builds from the broader “rights of nature” movement, whose premise is that nature must not be considered mere “property” under the law. Instead, advocates believe that nature should—and inherently does—possess legal rights just as humans and other entities currently enjoy. Ecuador and Bolivia recognize rights of nature nationally, as do dozens of local governments in North America. Specific ecosystems are also recognized as legal entities possessing rights, including the Atrato River and Amazon rainforest in Colombia and Whanganui River and Mt. Taranaki in New Zealand.
“I congratulate Crestone on promoting a new paradigm in which humans and nature thrive together as equals under the law,” said Grant Wilson, Directing Attorney of Earth Law Center, who spoke on the rights of nature at a community event in Crestone and also helped shape the resolution. “I look forward to the day in which all governments join Crestone in recognizing the rights of nature, which I believe is our planet’s next great rights-based movement.”
WHEREAS, the Town of Crestone will, on August 8, 2018, receive a delegation of Teyuna Elders, reflecting a weaving together of North and South America long prophesied by many Indigenous Elders to unite all peoples in the Heart of North America; and WHEREAS, the Town of Crestone values and honors the ancient Harmony with Nature wisdom teachings that emerge from the Heart of Mother Earth and continue uninterrupted among the delegation of Teyuna Elders on pilgrimage to our Town; and WHEREAS, the Town of Crestone recognizes the unique, ceremonial gifts of the Teyuna to restore and renew the sacred waters and sacred lands of Mother Earth; and WHEREAS, the Town of Crestone supports the extension and continuation of the Teyuna ceremonial practices in our town in the spirit of guidance from an elder sibling to the younger; and WHEREAS, the Town of Crestone recognizes Colorado College, Baca Campus, for providing full lodging to receive the delegation of Teyuna Elders and their representatives; NOW, THEREFORE, IT SHALL BE AND IS HEREBY PROCLAIMED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE TOWN OF CRESTONE, that the 8th day of August, in the year 2018, shall be the Day of the Teyuna, recognizing the auspicious arrival of this historic delegation of Teyuna Elders from the Cabildo (the highest elected governing authority) of the peoples of the Sierra Nevada Maria of Colombia into our Town, and honoring their historic arrival with a day and time, as well as during the days following that the Teyuna are in the area, to offer silence, contemplation, and mediation in our community, including all those who may so choose to oberve this special time throughout the adjacent spiritual centers and the neighboring Baca Grande development area.