Wisconsin tribe recognizes Menominee River rights

You may be familiar with the concept that people have rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Have you ever considered the rights of a river?

The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin recently asserted that the Menominee River has the right to exist naturally, flourish, evolve, remain unpolluted and carry out its natural ecosystem functions.

The Menominee River, at the border between Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin, is at the center of a controversy over a proposed open-pit sulfide mine known as the Back Forty Project. Aquila Resources, a Canadian mining company, wants to extract zinc, gold, copper, silver and lead 150 feet away from the river...

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Ken Notes: I could actually side with the tribes on this, I just do not know of any statute or law that this could stand on. It is a beautiful thought though...