Glimpse of the future? Nature preserve doubles as cemetery
By Marylynne Pitz, Pittsburgh Post Gazette
WILMOT, Ohio — Atop a hillside in the Sugar Creek Valley, Gordon Maupin trains binoculars on a bluejay as it lands on a tree. A flock of cedar waxwings flies past him.
At the simple entrance to this former farm, an engraved stone perched on boulders says “Foxfield Preserve.” What you see on these 43 acres are rolling hills, wildflowers, tall trees and sky.
What you don’t see is that it’s also the nation’s first nature preserve cemetery operated by a conservation group.
Essentially, it may be the cemetery of the future.
There are no marble monuments or wrought-iron gates, no groundskeeper in sight.
“It’s a nature preserve first. It’s not going to be at all like a traditional cemetery,” said Maupin, executive director of The Wilderness Center, a nonprofit organization that teaches people of all ages to conserve land and other natural resources.
The goal is to achieve an environmental twofer — offer natural burials that skip many of the costs of a modern funeral and, after creating a natural cemetery, conserve and reforest land that might otherwise be developed.
Located in a rural community two hours west of Pittsburgh, Foxfield Preserve opened in August and has had three burials and two scatterings of ashes. Burial sites can be marked with an engraved natural stone of granite, sandstone or flagstone, as well as a tree or flowers.
Foxfield goes far beyond some other “green” burials, which are considered “hybrids” — the lowest level of natural burial — because they’re done in a traditional cemetery, said Joe Sehee, executive director of the national Green Burial Council. The deceased, who is not embalmed, is placed either in a shroud or biodegradable coffin, and the grave has no concrete vault.
Foxfield is considered the highest level of natural burial. It takes place on land where there is detailed planning to conserve the property, restore the forest, remove invasive species and create wildlife habitat, all of it overseen by an independent steward.
Here, natural burial is required of all. Stone markers are optional. Cremated remains can be buried, too.