Bury me on the lone prairie
By Zaffos, Rocky Mountain Holla
Plans for a “green” cemetery in Northern Colorado are still moving forward. Prairie Wilderness Cemeteries, which will perform green burials — meaning no hardwood caskets, no formaldehyde or embalming fluids and no extravagant grave markers — has now applied for nonprofit status with the IRS and has collected contributions to set up a fund to help take care of the land in perpetuity.
The steps are among those recommended by the Green Burial Council, out of New Mexico, which is a clearinghouse for eco-cemeteries in the US.
Last fall, the Chronicle reported on the effort, which has run into a number of obstacles, including Weld County land-use laws and some opposition from neighbors who didn’t necessarily have all the details of the plans.
Laina Corazon Coit, whose family is behind the NoCo green cemetery, is now trying to collect letters of intent from people interested in being interred on the prairie. If you’re interested, you can find her contact information on the project’s website.