It has been the unfortunate experience of far too many that when outsiders come in and try to influence a community, they rarely have good intentions in mind, at least for the natives.
A small town not too far from Boulder, Colorado, just learned that firsthand.
As KUNC-FM reported, an outside environmental group called Save the World’s Rivers moved into Nederland, about 15 miles west of Boulder, in 2021. As their name implies, they went about ‘saving’ one of the town’s closest waterways, Middle Boulder Creek, which winds through Nederland.
To do so, they successfully influenced the local government to implement a “Rights of Nature Resolution.” Also, just like it sounds, the policy declared that the inanimate creek had its own right to exist and flourish just as humans do. Therefore, it should be protected and left alone to do its thing without human intervention.
The policy even went so far as to appoint two “guardians” for the creek, who would also be the voice for it on all matters that may interact with it.
All was fine for a while.
However, Nederland, as well as the entire state of Colorado, is having some water issues. Namely, they are running out of it. So, the town proposed building a dam in the creek to create a reservoir and a new and sustainable freshwater source.
But, of course, Save the World’s Rivers didn’t like that at all. Naturally, they opposed it, telling the town they weren’t allowed to do it – for the sake of the creek.
Thankfully, the resolution wasn’t all that legally binding, making it quite easy for Nederland’s board members to vote to repeal it and end Save the World’s Rivers’s influence over them.
The effort to grant “rights of nature” to Boulder Creek through Nederland as a legacy for generations to come lasted less than three years. The human guardians appointed to voice those rights lasted less than five months.https://t.co/mt0cJNm166
— The Colorado Sun (@ColoradoSun) May 12, 2024
As humans, we are called to be stewards of the land, taking dominion over it and using it to survive. Naturally, there needs to be a balance to that, as Wesley J. Smith of the National Review explained, “human need with responsible husbandry.”
Sometimes, that means that human activity is restricted. But not all the time, as Save the World’s Rivers seems to believe.
In this case, Nederland is well within its right to build a reservoir and save its town. I bet they won’t let outsiders in so easily next time, either…
