Conservation at BluestemA 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 that holds and monitors a conservation easement placed over the land. Bluestem has partnered with two long standing nonprofit organizations at Eno River Association and Triangle Land Conservancy and we are currently finalizing our documents for the easement, with their staff. Once completed, both land trusts will co-hold Bluestem's easement, ensuring its permanent protection as a nature preserve with a conservation cemetery. Bluestem subscribes to the conservation burial standards set by the Green Burial Council. You can read more about the standards here. Throughout the nature preserve and conservation cemetery, we are protecting habitat in the grasslands and early successional woodland areas. Around the pond and along the creeks, we have established water quality buffers to keep our drinking water sources clean. With so much development taking place in our region, grasslands and early successional habitats are among the most endangered. It's why a founding principle for Bluestem is preserving and protecting this precious landscape.
Bluestem is a popular destination for amateur and recreational naturalists.
Find us on eBird and iNaturalist. Conservation Burial as Climate ActionNatural 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.
Practicing Community ConservationBased 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:
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.
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