Peter Berg (bioregionalist)

Peter Stephen Berg (October 1, 1937 – July 28, 2011) was an environmental writer, best known as an advocate of the concept of bioregionalism. In the early 1960s, he was a member of the San Francisco Mime Troupe and the Diggers. He is the founder of the Planet Drum Foundation.

Early life

Born in Jamaica, Queens, New York, Berg was raised in Florida where he first became interested in the environment as a child. He later studied psychology at the University of Florida and enlisted in the army. After his discharge, he moved back to New York.

Bioregionalism

Peter Berg defined the concept of bioregionalism as "a geographic area defined by natural characteristics, including watersheds, landforms, soils, geological qualities, native plants and animals, climate, and weather...[which] includes human beings as a species in the interplay of these natural characteristics."

Death

After suffering from lung cancer, he died from pneumonia in 2011.

Selected work

• Envisioning Sustainability, Discovering Your Life-Place: A First Bioregional Workbook (2009)
• A Green City Program for the San Francisco Bay Area and Beyond, Planet Drum Foundation/Bookpeople, ISBN 0914728717 (1987)
• Figures of Regulation: Guides for Re-Balancing Society with the Biosphere (1982)
• Reinhabiting a Separate Country: A Bioregional Anthology of Northern California (1978)