At Jefferson Land Trust, our mission is to work with the community to preserve open spaces, working lands, and habitat forever. Since 1989, we’ve used innovative ways to protect and restore ecologically sensitive lands, benefiting wildlife and people alike.
Conservation burial grounds and memorial forests are places where family and friends can go to honor and remember a loved one in a natural setting. Photo by Robert Tognoli.
In 2021, recognizing growing community interest in natural end-of-life options, Jefferson Land Trust began exploring the feasibility of a conservation burial initiative in our region. Conservation burial combines green burial practices with land conservation and ecological restoration on properties managed as conservation burial grounds and/or memorial forests.
In 2022, to bring this vision to life, we established Olympic Wildlands Burial Grounds LLC (OWBG). This wholly owned subsidiary, managed by a dedicated board of volunteer community members, is focused on developing and caring for conservation burial properties that align with the Land Trust’s values of preservation, restoration, and community benefit. The organization is currently seeking property appropriate as a conservation burial ground.
Conservation burial will allow the Land Trust to provide green burial options to our community while protecting and restoring land.
This burial ground will serve as more than a final resting place. It will be a living landscape that embodies the conservation values cherished by so many in our community. Every burial will contribute to ecological restoration and the enduring protection of this special land.
Eventually, OWBG also aims to establish a memorial forest for the scattering of ashes, which may or may not be at the same site as the burial ground.
Conservation burial offers the opportunity to continue the environmental values we held dear in life. By choosing green burial in a perpetually protected landscape, we can leave a legacy of land restoration and conservation for future generations to enjoy and treasure.
The activities and properties of OWBG will be another conservation and restoration tool that will help us restore land that has been disturbed, improving its ecological condition over time, and keep it natural and open forever. The proceeds from conservation burials will be used to restore and maintain burial ground and memorial forest properties and also to advance future conservation work throughout Jefferson County.
Together, we can transform the way we care for our land — and for one another — through this inspiring initiative.
Through the Look to the Land fundraising campaign’s Flexible Opportunity Fund, Jefferson Land Trust is currently setting aside funds for the purchase of a conservation burial ground property. Please make a gift today in support of this initiative. Additional funds will be raised to launch the program in upcoming months.
Visit our Conservation Burial Q&A page to learn more.
Please fill out this form to let us know you’re interested in learning more about the Land Trust’s conservation burial program as it continues to develop.
Conservation Burial Ground: A conservation burial ground has dual purposes: providing a final resting place and improving the health and beauty of the land. At a conservation burial ground, green burial methods are used. For instance, no embalming chemicals are used and all burial materials are biodegradable. Generally, properties selected for this purpose are in need of rehabilitation. They are cared for in a way that improves their ecological conditions and habitat benefits, and are protected as a burial ground in perpetuity.
Memorial Forest: A memorial forest is a designated area of a natural woodland for returning cremated remains to the earth. A forest property is selected (often one in need of care and management), is purchased, and then the land is protected in perpetuity.
