Conservation at Bluestem   

A conservation cemetery, sometimes called a conservation burial ground, looks and feels like the natural area that surrounds it, where nature is enough. Natural burial practices coexist with the care and protection of the land's natural resources. Conservation cemeteries are also required to partner with a conservation organization. These important partners hold and monitor the conservation easement that is placed over the land, ensuring the permanent protection of the property.  
Bluestem is proud of its partnership with two long standing non-profit organizations
Eno River Association 
​and 
Triangle Land Conservancy
Both co-hold Bluestem's conservation easement. 
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Ryan Fehrman, Executive Director of Eno River Association with Heidi Hannapel and Jeff Masten, Bluestem Co-Directors March 24, 2025

Restoring Critical Habitat  

Throughout Bluestem we are restoring critical habitat in the grasslands and early successional woodland areas. With so much development taking place in our region, grasslands and early successional habitats are among the most endangered. A founding principle for Bluestem is preserving and protecting this critical landscape. 
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Little Bluestem in the Fall
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Little Bluestem in the Winter
Our namesake, the little bluestem grass, is a core species in our grasslands, serving as a stabilizing force, with deep root systems that store carbon and survive through periods of drought or rain.  
Little Bluestem and other native grasses encourage dozens of other native companion plants like larkspur, tickseed and narrow-leaf sunflower. Our grassland hosts diverse pollinators that benefit the region's farms and fields and encourages the resurgence of animal species like the bobwhite quail and northern harrier. Frequent birders are one of the reasons we have accounted for more than 150 species on the property! 
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Prairie Warbler
 Find Bluestem on eBird and iNaturalist. 

Conservation Burial as Climate Action

Natural burial at Bluestem not only eliminates the use of fossil fuels used in cremation and the embalming fluids, plastics, metals, and concrete vaults used in conventional burial, but also supports the perpetual protection of a climate-resilient landscape—a landscape equipped to withstand change such as flooding, drought, and extreme temperatures. These geographical pockets are sometimes referred to as "climate change refugia," serving as refuge and resource for surrounding communities and wildlife.

Each person's decision of burial at Bluestem, each volunteer hour devoted to conservation and restoration work, each moment of human reconnection to nature experienced here, is a meaningful contribution not only to the protection of this particular place, but also to the integrity of surrounding ecosystems and to a much-needed paradigm shift in our human relationship with nature.

​At Bluestem, community gathers, pollinators thrive, wildflowers wave, and carbon is stored deep in the roots of native grasses, providing not only a personal, values-aligned final resting place, but also a place of resilience, refuge, and restoration for generations to come.
"We practice a reverence for land through values of integrity, utility, simplicity and sustainability. For every gravesite, we consider the impact of digging and disturbance to the soils and root systems. We calculate for stormwater and install water protections. And we consider the wildlife already living here."
​
Bluestem Council of Stewards 

Practicing Community Conservation 

Based on years of experience and education, our leadership and land stewards deploy strategies that connect people with the land. Click here to join us for our next volunteer Friday workday and be a part of our conservation mission to:
  • Cultivate 35 acres of native wildflowers and Southeast grasses that store carbon 
  • Enhance wildlife habitat with plant, shrub and tree plantings, and bird boxes
  • Use prescribed fire to encourage growth and manage non-native plants 
  • Construct erosion controls to support stormwater management for portions of the headwaters of the Neuse and the Roanoke River Basins
  • Establish water quality buffers on 4,000 feet of stream frontage 
  • Create and maintain pollinator habitat
  • Follow low-density green burial practices
  • Foster plant diversity, restoring the vibrancy of the open lands, upland and lowland forests 
Keep up with our conservation activities on Facebook and Instagram.
Header photo: Little bluestem growing in the fields after a prescribed burn in 2024. Additional photos credit: Jackie Rimmler​, James Gartrell, Caroline Ray, Noah Rokoske, Courtney Reid-Eaton and Mel Green.