PULSE of the Great Lakes  /  Rights of the Lakes

This Is
Our Water.
This Is Our Fight.

Twenty-one percent of the world's fresh surface water sits in the Great Lakes Basin. Forty million people drink from it. Hundreds of species depend on it. The legal system that was supposed to protect it was written to protect the corporations threatening it instead. We are building the movement to change that.

Understand the Fight Join the Movement Explore the Full Framework →
Coalition Partner
CELDF
30 Years of Community Rights
Our Legal Partner in This Fight
PULSE of the Great Lakes works in formal partnership with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund—the national organization that pioneered the Rights of Nature legal movement in the United States and helped draft New York's Great Lakes Bill of Rights. Thirty years of working alongside communities like yours. They are the legal backbone of everything we are building here. Learn about CELDF →
The Framework

What Is Rights of Nature—and Why Does It Change Everything?

Rights of Nature is a legal framework that recognizes ecosystems—rivers, lakes, forests, wetlands—as living systems with the right to exist, flourish, and be restored. Not as property to be managed. Not as resources to be extracted. As rights-bearing entities that can be represented and defended in a court of law.

Here is what matters for the Great Lakes Basin: we humans are not separate from nature. We are part of it. Rights of Nature legislation does not just protect the lakes in the abstract—it establishes that the communities who live within these ecosystems, who depend on this water, who breathe this air, hold rights that no corporate permit can override. It is both ecosystem rights and community rights, inseparable from each other.

In the Great Lakes Basin, this means the lakes, their tributaries, watersheds, and connecting channels would hold legal standing. When a corporation draws millions of gallons of Basin water, pumps diesel exhaust into the air our children breathe, and floods a rural community with 24-hour noise and light—a community can say no. Not delay it. Not challenge a permit. Say no.

The anchor legislation for the Basin is New York Assembly Bill A5156A, the Great Lakes and State Waters Bill of Rights, introduced by Assemblyman Patrick Burke. Our goal is to bring companion legislation to every Great Lakes Basin state.

The Current System
A permit is legal permission to cause harm. Regulations do not prohibit damage—they set a limit on how much damage is legally allowed. When a corporation gets a permit, they are protected while they poison your water, your air, and your community. You can challenge the paperwork. You cannot say no. And the data used to approve the permit was often paid for by the corporation seeking it.
Rights of Nature
The ecosystem holds legal rights that no permit can override. Communities gain standing to defend the water directly in court—not just challenge a procedural filing. We are part of this ecosystem. Our rights and the ecosystem's rights are the same rights. The burden of proof shifts. The corporation must prove no harm. Not the other way around.
Active Legislation and Organizing—Great Lakes Basin Region
Active—In Committee

New York—Assembly Bill A5156A, Great Lakes and State Waters Bill of Rights

Introduced February 12, 2025, by Assemblyman Patrick Burke. Declares the Great Lakes, their watersheds, and all New York state waters hold the fundamental rights to exist, persist, flourish, naturally evolve, and be restored. Currently in the Committee on Environmental Conservation. Track this bill →

Moving—Charter Process

Ohio—Cincinnati, Ohio River Watershed Ecosystem Bill of Rights

A citizen-driven charter amendment establishing that all people within Cincinnati's jurisdiction and future generations hold the inalienable right to a healthy ecosystem. Explicitly states it is impossible for people to live separate from the ecosystems that sustain them. Creates an Ecosystem Advocate position to represent the ecosystem in government proceedings.

Moving—Resolution Process

Wisconsin—Green Bay, Rights of Nature Resolution

The Green Bay City Council voted 9 to 1 in summer 2025 to begin drafting a Rights of Nature resolution recognizing that local wetlands and waterways—including the Fox and East rivers—have the right to clean water. Milwaukee County passed a similar resolution in 2023. Democratic Governor Tony Evers is expected to veto the state preemption ban.

Under Threat—Preemption Attempt

Wisconsin—AB421/SB420, Statewide Ban on Rights of Nature Ordinances

Introduced September 2025 in direct response to Green Bay's organizing. Would prohibit any local government in Wisconsin from passing Rights of Nature ordinances. Same playbook Ohio used after Toledo in 2019. Expected to be vetoed by Governor Evers.

Your State, Your Path

Eight States. Two Strategies.

Five Basin states have citizen ballot initiative petition rights. Three do not. The strategy is different in each—but there is a path in every state. Find yours in the State Action Center.

States with Citizen Initiative Rights

Michigan
Ohio
Illinois
Minnesota
Wisconsin

States Without Initiative Rights

New York
Indiana
Pennsylvania

In initiative states, citizens can bypass the legislature entirely—collecting signatures to place Rights of Nature protections directly on the ballot for voters to decide. This is the fastest path to binding law when the legislature is captured by the same corporate money you are trying to stop.

In non-initiative states, the path runs through the legislature and through municipal organizing. Local Rights of Nature ordinances, city charter amendments, and direct pressure campaigns on state legislators are all active tools. New York is already moving at the state level. The full strategy for each state is in the State Action Center.

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Love Where You Live Foundation is a registered Michigan charity. Your donation directly supports Great Lakes Basin advocacy, community organizing, and the fight to protect this place and the people who call it home.

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Go Deeper

Everything You Need to Move

01
Know the System
Why communities keep losing—and why that is not an accident. The regulatory fallacy, preemption, Dillon's Rule, corporate rights, and the proof that the fight is already happening.
Understand the system →
02
Build the Movement
Watch the CELDF Building a Movement video series—the 30-year roadmap for fighting corporate power through community rights, citizen lawmaking, and principled disobedience.
Watch the series →
03
State Action Center
Find your legislators. Look up their donor records. Cross-reference their votes. All eight Basin states with direct links to legislative directories and campaign finance portals.
Find your state →
04
The Blueprint
How to bring Rights of Nature to your community. The legal path through CELDF. How to fight preemption. The 2026 candidate pledge. How to start or join a local working group.
Start organizing →