Earth Law Center Opens the Thomas Berry Law Library

Durango, Colorado – June 11, 2026: Earth Law Center (ELC), an international nonprofit dedicated to giving Nature a voice in the legal system, opened the Thomas Berry Law Library in its newly renovated headquarters on Monday, June 1st. Grant Wilson, Executive Director of ELC, Herman Greene, Thomas Berry Scholar-in-Residence of ELC, Rebecca Clausen, professor of environmental sociology at Fort Lewis College, Bill Plotkin and Geneen Marie Haugen of the Animas Valley Institute, and Jessica Zeller, President of the Natural Pathways Foundation, spoke at the event.

The library will be a gathering space for Earth jurisprudence scholars, practitioners, and students from across the globe. It contains books relating to law, jurisprudence, ethics, religion, and Indigenous wisdom foundational to Earth law. A full index of the library’s collection is accessible here. Members of the public may visit the Thomas Berry Law Library by appointment. They may also propose or donate additional books for the library. To do either, email ELC: info@earthlaw.org.

The library is named after and dedicated to the legacy of Thomas Berry. Thomas Berry was a cultural historian and self-described “geologian” who spent his life teaching that the Earth is not a collection of objects but a communion of subjects. His visionary work laid the philosophical foundation for the Rights of Nature movement and the work of Earth Law Center. Greene’s dedicatory remarks highlighting the connection between Berry and ELC are available here. An overview of the Earth law movement is available here.

Earth Law Center provides guidance to governments, Indigenous leaders, grassroots advocates, and businesses transitioning to Earth-centered governance. It now has more than twenty staff members supporting legal innovation in more than thirty countries. The organization has deep expertise in legal frameworks recognizing rivers, forests, animals, and ecosystems as living entities deserving of legal rights, guardianship, and representation in decision-making. Further it authored the leading law school coursebook on Earth Law.

Wilson quote about the importance of dedicating the library to Berry’s legacy. “We are honored to dedicate this law library in our newly renovated space to the legacy of Thomas Berry. His ideas will continue to inspire the legal frameworks our planet urgently needs.”
  
  
Contact: Grant Wilson, Earth Law Center - gwilson@earthlaw.org, +1-510-566-1063