Summary
On April 22, 2024, the Town of Falmouth in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, adopted a resolution recognizing the rights of nature, and to effectuate those rights by using it as a basis for the Town’s policymaking.
The resolution resulted from local community efforts to find stronger legal approaches to address declining local environmental conditions, concluding that existing legal protections were insufficient. Community-wide interest in a rights of nature approach was fueled by opposition to the proposed development of a huge, 900-unit, four-story apartment complex on a narrow rural road through a forested area that drains into the river that they had spent years restoring at a financial cost of hundreds of thousands in public dollars.
Members of the Falmouth community had worked on environmental issues with Mashpee leadership and were aware of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s 2023 Declaration of the Rights of Herring. Falmouth community members considered following the tribe’s example by proposing rights of nature to galvanize additional environmental protection efforts in Falmouth.
One local activist, concerned about the safety of turtles in the affected area, saw a news report about the Leatherback Project’s use of rights of nature to protect sea turtles in Panama and contacted the Leatherback Project’s founder, Callie Veelenturf, for assistance. Veelenturf met with community members and suggested asking the Earth Law Center for help drafting a rights of nature resolution. The Earth Law Center and Leatherback Project assisted community members by preparing initial drafts of a resolution. Community members also consulted the Mashpee Tribe for feedback.
Dr. Elizabeth Gladfelter, an environmental scientist and long-time member of Falmouth’s conservation commission, met with the Chair of the Select Board, the town’s governing body, to advocate for adoption. The board chair was enthusiastic. After that, Dr. Gladfelter met with the Town Manager and Assistant Town Manager to discuss presenting the resolution to the select board for adoption. In response to concerns about the resolution’s possible impact on private property rights, Dr. Gladfelter explained that the resolutions were intended to establish a philosophical and ethical understanding about humans’ relationship with nature that could be incorporated into municipal policy and used to guide future decision making and governance.
The one-page proposed resolution was scheduled for select board consideration at its Earth Day 2024. By unanimous vote, the select board adopted the proposed resolution. It states that the board “[r]ecognizes the rights of Nature on Cape Cod”, and “[r]esolves to effectuate those rights to the full extent of [the town’s] authority and thereby effectuate our constitutionally guaranteed right to a clean and healthy environment and thereby protect our own and our children’s and descendants’ welfare.”
Once the resolution was adopted, community members began working on its implementation. The 300 Committee Land Trust and a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employee requested a workshop on rights of nature to discuss implementation. At the time of writing, Dr. Gladfelter and others were working with city staff and community members to publicize and effectuate the town’s commitment to rights of nature and ensure that the city’s programs and practices align with the resolution. Other residents, including Eric Schwaab are working to promote adoption of similar resolutions by other Cape Cod towns.