Conservation

Green Burial Council Certification

Last month, we were notified by the Green Burial Council (GBC) that our application was for their Natural Cemetery Certification had been accepted. This makes Campo de Estrellas the third cemetery in Texas to hold certification with the GBC, and the only cemetery in the state recognized as a fully-certified Natural Burial Cemetery.

This is thrilling news and marks a huge milestone for us. The Green Burial Council is North America’s premier natural burial certification and education organization, and to be included in their growing list of recognized practitioners is an honor. Our decision to pursue certification with the GBC stemmed from our desire to help expand the natural burial movement. The GBC has a long history of helping raise awareness of the benefits of ‘green’ burial and the more cemeteries certified with them, the more visible the movement becomes.

Founded in 2005 (back when “green” was still a new term associated with environmental concerns), they established the first set of standards for natural burial practitioners and products to ensure the highest levels of environmental sustainability, business integrity, and consumer protection. This helped to legitimize natural burial within a frankly hostile funeral industry and to a skeptical (read: uninformed) community. Beyond setting standards, they are a major hub of information and education for anyone interested in natural burial. We at Campo de Estrellas have relied on their free resources extensively in building our cemetery and regularly refer families to them for additional information.

The process of becoming GBC certified took us about a year. First, we had to determine which level of certification we wanted to achieve. The GBC has three tiers: Hybrid, Natural, and Conservation. A Hybrid cemetery allows for both natural and conventional burials (use of vaults, metal caskets, etc.). Many existing cemeteries opt for this level as it allows them to continue to offer their conventional services, while adding newer plots that are green.

A Natural Burial Cemetery allows only natural burials, requires an ecological assessment of the cemetery site, and sets aside a percentage of business funds into a perpetual care fund, among other standards. We had our ecological assessment done by Wildlife Habitat Conservation (WHF Texas). They provided us with a dossier of vital information regarding our land including the soil types across the entire acreage, elevation levels, and areas of ecological sensitivity. Crucially, they also provided us with recommended rewilding techniques to promote plant diversity and encourage a return of wildlife that had been driven away due to development and agriculture practices. Even if we hadn’t applied for GBC certification, we still would have pursued an ecological assessment as it gives us baseline of data upon which we can monitor our inputs and measure our outcomes to test out our theory that natural burial really does benefit the land.

A Conservation Cemetery must operate under contract with a conservation organization in the form of a conservation easement, conserve a minimum amount of land, and establish strategies to conserve and rewild that land. Land conservation and rewilding are at the heart of what we do here at Campo de Estrellas Conservation Cemetery. It’s so important to us that we put it in our name! The same goes for establishing a conservation easement. A conservation easement is a legal agreement between landowners and a land trust that protects the land from development and sustains conservation activities on it, in perpetuity. This means that even after the original landowners are no longer around, the land trust holding the easement monitors and maintains the land, ensuring it remains a natural landscape. When we first began planning, the longevity of our project was at the forefront of our minds and using an easement to protect it has long been our goal.

We are continuing to pursue a pathway toward establishing an easement on our cemetery as well as the additional acreage surrounding it. The process of obtaining a conservation easement is a longer one, involving sustained relationship-building with conservation organizations and significant financial resources for things like legal counsel. All of this is to say that while we may not have the easement in place yet, we have not abandoned our long-term land conservation plans and goals. Using natural burials as a way to protect land, assessing the land for ecological sensitivities and opportunities, and offering people a meaningful way to engage with nature is already central to our practice. Our GBC certification only deepens our commitment to these goals.

Cleaning up the Garden

Before the ice descended on us during these last few weeks of the January, I took the opportunity to clean up some of the areas of the cemetery that are most attractive to families during warmer months, when the trees that surround them offer shade and privacy. During the winter, however, they appear ragged and tangled, giving stewards like us a chance to see clearly where the particularly obtrusive plants have taken over. Smilax rotundifolia, a viney, prickly plant, grows aggressively out on the cemetery and loves to wrap its thorny arms around our more mature mesquite and just about anything else.

Inspired by a volunteer clean-up day I’d partaken in at Dowell Ranch for North Texas Prairie Association (NPAT), I bought a new pair of lobbers and a tougher pair of gloves to tackle the job.

Smilax vines climb up dead branches of a Eastern red cedar

This particular garden has two ‘motts’ on the east and west side. Tree motts are clusters of trees that grow together, creating areas of shade and protection for wildlife. Some landowners will chose to clear them out completely, to promote grass growth, but our aims are a bit different. We love having spaces for wildlife to bed down during cold months (I was joined by a brown rabbit during my work session!) and we don’t have many stands of trees to begin with, so we’re saving what we’ve got.

Each mott was pretty covered in smilax vines and out of control underbrush, things like Christmas cholla (pencil cactus – particularly painful to get pricked by!) and emerging Mesquite trees. We have plenty of Mesquite, so getting rid of the new growth isn’t going to hurt anything.

We also have a lot of prickly pear clusters around the cemetery and we tend to enjoy their iconic shape. I decided to keep one big one and clean out some of the smaller pups that had sprouted up nearby. I know by spring they’ll be back, but this gives us some time to see the space as we’d like to have it.

Dead branches and emerging mesquite around a large prickly pear

It may not appear like much, but after I spent about two hours chopping and hauling very thorny sticks off into a brush pile I was wiped! I was pleased with the results and happy to know that in just a couple hours, we can really tidy up a space.

This particular garden in actually quite large, with enough space for several plots. Next month, we’ll continue our clean up and spread some grass seed in the less shaded areas. By Spring, we should be able to see if the wildflower seed we spread last month has taken hold. Something to look forward to!

Garden area after clean up. It might not look like much but A LOT was removed!

Rabbit watched closely while I worked, making sure I didn’t fully destroy their home

Deep Space

Two things were dead giveaways: she was exactly on time and driving a vehicle that was the opposite of all-terrain.

At 11 o’clock on the dot, a long, low, full-sized sedan slowly turned into our cemetery driveway, driven by a woman who had scheduled a tour with me. Aside from being good manners, her punctuality felt like an extension of the planning she had set out to take care of: selecting burial plots for herself and others. The exterior of the car reflected its city life, showing no streaks of mud and only the faintest sheen of gravel dust, presumably from having crept along the winding rock road that surrounds our cemetery.

Hoping to ease what I sensed was anxiety as she timidly stepped out of the car, I asked how was her trip to the cemetery. She shared that it was somewhat intimidating being so far outside the city on unfamiliar rural roads. I praised her determination as well as her bravery. Most people stop far short of coming out for a visit. Most won’t even think about planning for death until it becomes an absolute necessity. (I don’t recommend this, but I’ll let you find out why.)

We began our tour as I normally do, giving some background on the land and guiding her through the mowed paths and cleared gardens. I pointed out available plots and showed her recently occupied spots. Our conversation began to veer into a discussion on perpetual care and land stewardship, something she seemed deeply concerned about. How long is this land protected, and who is going to make sure it always stays a cemetery?

I responded with what I know: it’s deeded as a cemetery with the county, so it will remain so until the county dissolves it, either by some herculean effort enacted by an entity who has consulted with all living family members and is willing to pay to move the remains somewhere else. It will be cared for by our cemetery organization for as long as we remain an organization or transfer it to another group willing to steward it, whether a land trust or another cemetery organization. However, I gathered my answer wasn’t enough. I asked what was on her mind.

“I just want to know that someone isn’t going to be digging me up in a hundred years,” she said finally.

Again, I answered with what I know: it’s unlikely, but there really are no guarantees against that. Archaeologists excavate burial sites of ancient people regularly. But at the same time, think of all the small pioneer cemeteries dotting our countryside that have been there for a century at least, left untouched. To put it more bluntly, it will depend on the stability and length of our society. Eventually, it will be out of all of our hands.

We ventured further into the cemetery, into a grove of cedar trees adjacent to our pavilion. She fell in love with a shaded spot near the path. She had wanted a double plot, so I began flagging two spots next to each other when she stopped me. “Can they be buried one on top of the other?” she asked.

People have inquired about double depth graves before, but in passing (not seriously wanting an answer), and they never pressed further when I said I didn’t know much about them. But this was different. She had family buried this way in Florida. It made sense to her, as it appeared to use less space. Humbled, I told her I actually had no idea if it was even legal in Texas. I promised to find her an answer.

I began researching the laws. It is legal in Texas. Does any cemetery actually do this? I found a few examples of conventional cemeteries that advertise double depth plots. That makes sense, because these are cemeteries that use cement vaults that would protect the deeper grave from being impeded when digging the second. What about cemeteries that don’t use vaults, like ours?

Excavator digging a grave at Campo de Estrellas

I called Dan, our gravedigger, who has been in the business for over twenty years and has dug graves all over the state. I’ve come to think of him as my burial guru, as he has seen and heard it all. He confirmed what I’d researched and said he has dug double depth before, but for our cemetery he doesn’t recommend it. “That is a lot of soil to displace for the first burial,” he said. “And even though we do our best to compact it, it will cave in eventually, and you’ll be refilling after that first burial for 25 years.”

Curious to know if other natural cemeteries encountered this, I asked my other burial gurus, the practitioners of the Conservation Burial Alliance. Initially, most of the practitioners advised against it for the reasons Dan stated. They added that deeper graves place the body in anaerobic parts of the soil, meaning little or no oxygen is present. Aerobic, or oxygenated, soil is vital to the philosophy of being buried naturally, which is to return to the earth. Without oxygen, our bodies decompose at a much slower rate and therefore don’t provide nutrients to the living plant layer we seek to regenerate.

Then we heard from a practitioner who does dig double depth graves. They stated that their land is forested hillside with large trees and deep roots. Digging side by side isn’t always an option, as it would disturb too many root systems. Double depth graves offer them the ability to accommodate two graves in a smaller footprint with less disturbance to their surrounding ecosystem. They did acknowledge that if they were burying in flat grassland, shallow side-by-side graves would be ideal. It all comes down to ecosystem specifics.

Mound of dirt removed from a grave

Fascinated by the exchange and differing perspectives, I thought about the points raised. We all agree that decomposition is the goal but seem to differ on the rate at which it occurs. Burying as shallow as legally possible (in Texas, that is 3½ feet) will give us the best chance of breaking down into regenerative material quickly. In deeper, more compact graves (double depth), bodies can develop adipocere, or “grave wax” as it’s poetically called, which slows decomposition by preserving tissue.

Then there is the issue of land occupancy. A lot of people balk at the idea of burials in general because it feels like they are “taking up space.” This may be true of conventional cemeteries, where bodies are surrounded by concrete vaults and paved roads that inhibit any other land activity (natural or otherwise) from taking place. But in natural burial grounds, you are meant to decompose, to become part of a natural world that will inevitably move in and consume you. You are not taking up space; you are becoming space.

People generally don’t like to think about decomposing, but they also don’t like to think about a world where there is no natural space. If we don’t allow for decomposition, if we paved everything or poured concrete everywhere, or coated everything in a sealed wax, we would run out of space very quickly. The more we let go of our attempt to control the future and of ourselves, the more space we create.

Filled in grave at Campo de Estrellas

Eventually, we decided that double depth graves aren’t appropriate for Campo de Estrellas, and I reached out to the woman to share my research with her. I also confirmed that she did find her way back from the cemetery, though I sensed it was different than the way she came.

Joining the Conservation Burial Alliance

Recently the Conservation Burial Alliance invited us to join its online network, a nationwide list that spotlights conservation burial grounds. Of course, we were thrilled to be included on their growing list of burial spaces and honored to be included alongside so many thriving conservation cemeteries across the United States.

The Conservation Burial Alliance is a nationwide organization focused on bringing together providers of conservation burial, land trusts, as well as interested individuals to share resources and create networks that foster our unique type of burial. The group began meeting in 2017 after Freddie Johnson, one of the founders of Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery, realized that the movement was taking off, yet lacked a central node where providers and allies could come together to support each other. They held their first call in December of that year with participants from eight conservation burial grounds and have since grown to include at least 18 cemeteries across the United States. Along with holding regular monthly calls they also offer written guides to help out those who are interested in getting a conservation cemetery started, information for working with land trusts, and hold webinars and events occasionally throughout the year.

Scene from our 2024 Winter Solstice mycology walk and burial workshop

In a space that can often feel like one is working in isolation without much support from the traditional funeral industry, the CBA’s effort to build community and create a central repository is extremely helpful. Knowledge sharing is something that we’ve been particularly passionate about at Campo de Estrellas. In fact, our cemetery started by giving workshops for groups on the benefit of natural burial before we began meeting with families to plan for burials. We also spend a lot of time talking to landowners or potential landowners who want to establish this type of cemetery in Texas. When we first started exploring the idea of conservation burial there were only a handful of conservation cemeteries in existence that we could look to for insight and perspective, with none in Texas. Since then, we’ve seen the establishment of another nearby conservation cemetery that we can call on to swap trade tips and tricks. However, we hadn’t yet had a chance to widen our circle nationally. So it was exciting to have the opportunity to join this month’s CBA Zoom call to meet other members in the space, ask questions, and just generally talk shop.

The CBA call was lively and supportive, full of very passionate and hardworking people. It was promising to hear several participants share how busy they had become over the past few months, with one group stating that they often hold six or more burials a week. There were also several members who stated that they were participating in or hosting their own events on their land in collaboration with local organizations.

As promised, shop was talked! Topics included:

the use and legitimacy of new green funeral products like biodegradable plastic soil amendments and shrouding boards
(re)enforcement of cemetery rules when working with funeral homes unfamiliar with the tenets of natural burial
how to handle severely decomposing cases in a way that is respectful to families and the earth
hiring administrative help because business is blooming!

There was a sense of affirmation after the call ended. This growing alliance is already holding both families and land to the same high standard, and the CBA keeps that circle aligned. As demand for natural burial rises (and it is!), it’s reassuring to know a practiced, principled network is ready to meet it.

Habitat Preservation at Campo de Estrellas

If you’ve visited our cemetery, you may wonder why we leave big piles of brush scattered around the cemetery. Or, why we’ve left dead trees just standing around. Our reason is simple: these “unsightly” piles are excellent places to shelter small wildlife! They make up the natural features of our landscape that encourages the re-wilding of a habitat for animals that have been previously driven from the area due to agriculture overuse. Read on to learn a little more about these methods.

Brush or Slash Piles

Any time you see these piles of brush and branches, you can assume that there is abundant life and activity going on inside from a whole bunch of animals and bugs – and that’s a good thing.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tells us the following:

“Made up of woody debris and loose leaf litter stacked together, these piles provide great shelter for small mammals like voles and squirrels, along with salamanders and snakes. Weasels, foxes and hawks will also use them for shelter and hunting grounds. Many birds use these woody sanctuaries for cover and will oftentimes nest along logs or under piles of branches on the ground. Over time, the decaying wood will bring insects for birds and small mammals to feed on and ultimately give nutrients back to the soil.”*

So you see, there is a method to our messiness.

*U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Brush Piles – A Safe Space for Wildlife, May 9, 2023

Half Cuts

This is a good example of a half cut.

This particular one is not on our land but it clearly shows how a branch can be cut halfway through so that it can continue to grow and provide accessibility to browse and to create instant cover. Quail and turkeys especially love half cut trees to facilitate nesting and travel.

The half cuts we have made tend to be near large trees and surrounded by native shrubs which renders them practically invisible to the casual visitor.

Snags and Logs

Dead trees, also called snags, and fallen trees and branches, also called logs, are an important part of our overall wildlife management plan.

The Wildlife Federation has this to say: “Dead trees provide vital habitat for more than 1,000 species of wildlife nationwide. They also count as cover and places for wildlife to raise young. By some estimates, the removal of dead material from forests can mean a loss of habitat for up to one-fifth of the animals in the ecosystem.
Wildlife species use nearly every part of a dead tree in every stage of its decay for things such as:

A Place to Live—Many animals, including birds, bats, squirrels and raccoons make nests in hollow cavities and crevices in standing deadwood.
A Food Source—By attracting insects, mosses, lichens and fungi, deadwood becomes a gourmet restaurant for wildlife looking for a snack.
A “Crow’s Nest“—Higher branches of snags serve as excellent look-outs from which wildlife such as raptors spot potential prey.
A Hiding Place—The nooks and crannies of deadwood are put to good use by squirrels and other wildlife looking to store food.
A Soil Refresher—Mosses, lichens and fungi all grow on snags and aid in the return of vital nutrients to the soil through the nitrogen cycle. Decaying logs on the forest floor also act as “nurse logs” for new seedlings.”*

If you put your imagination to work, snags can even look like sculptural elements among the trees!

*Wildlife Federation, Gardening for Wildlife, Trees and Snags

Category: Conservation