BLUESTEM CONSERVATION CEMETERY
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 The Bluestem Story 

In 2015, Jeff Masten and Heidi Hannapel crafted a vision for Bluestem and set about researching and planning for central North Carolina's first conservation cemetery. They visited over 35 natural and conservation cemeteries around the country and helped found the Conservation Burial Alliance, a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting the protection, restoration, and sustainable management of conservation land that incorporates natural burial cemeteries.  

 In 2018, they were joined by 
Allen Brimer, Ben Johnston-Krase and Brandon Wert, of Farm Church, a service oriented congregation that meets on a farm in Durham, NC. These colleagues introduced the vision for Bluestem to faith leaders and community members in the region, and continued to evolve their concept with listening sessions among groups that specialized in community care, hospice and death care, 
funeral consumer interest, green burial advocacy, land conservation and law. 

With the arrival of Covid-19 in early 2020, Bluestem's listening sessions and outreach efforts moved online. ​Death, loss and grief surrounded us throughout 2020 and into 2021. We discovered through our Bluestem Conversations online that people were eager to share their experiences with family members' end of life choice. Most everyone we listened to wanted "something different" for their own disposition; a burial option that was more personal, meaningful, and less impactful on the earth. 

As individuals who turn to nature for respite and refuge, and as conservationists equally committed to protecting the natural beauty and resources of our beloved Piedmont, we shared our vision for establishing Bluestem as a place of worship, a nature preserve and central North Carolina's first conservation cemetery. 

Bluestem continues to be shaped by the people we meet -- passionate individuals seeking restorative spaces in nature and a burial option that: 
  • Supports family and friends in the sacred act of green burial 
  • Celebrates a special Piedmont landscape 
  • Honors loved ones through the protection of land​
  • Restores native grasslands and wildlife habitat
  • Serves as a living memorial for rest and refuge 
  • Reveres the sacred in nature 

In February 2021, we formed the nonprofit Bluestem Community NC with a Council of Stewards that oversees the management and operations of Bluestem. The nine individuals currently serving on the Council bring experience and skills in community building, spiritual journeying, land conservation, nonprofit governance, public administration, caregiving, management, and law. Bluestem Community is a 508(c)(1)(a) faith- based organization. 

In January 2022, Bluestem Community acquired 87 acres of beautiful open land and Piedmont forest in Cedar Grove, North Carolina. The open fields were well cared for and planted in corn by the former landowner. Neighboring properties, both in agriculture and timber, are owned by longstanding Orange County farming families.

Bluestem recognizes the region’s rich agricultural and cultural history and is honored to exist alongside rolling landscapes dotted with livestock and productive farmland. These compatible attributes fit with Bluestem’s goals for designing a place of reverence in nature that preserves a region’s rural character, ensures healthy wildlife corridors, protects important stream corridors, and ultimately provides our community with an enduring place of rest and regeneration.


Bluestem Community Council of Stewards 
2021-2023


   Carl Baumann      
Heidi Hannapel
Allen Brimer       Jeff Masten 
            Sidney Cruze        Shenae McPherson  
       
Jennifer Evans        Franziska Rokoske
​Beth Tillman 

Learn more about Bluestem's Council of Stewards


Picture

Bluestem

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Partner Sites

Bluestem Community NC
​Conservation Burial Alliance

DEEP Collaborative  
Eno River Association 
Garrett Wildflower Seed Farm Programs
Green Burial Council
Landmatters

Orange County Department on Aging 
Triangle Land Conservancy

Help build the vision!

CONTACT US
Bluestem Conservation Cemetery is a program of
Bluestem Community NC
DONATE
Bluestem is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization, EIN 86-2188559. All donations are tax deductible.
  • HOME
    • The Land
    • A Place for Everyone
    • Why Bluestem
    • The Bluestem Story
    • Bluestem News
    • FAQs
  • Community
    • Who We Are
    • Bluestem Meditations
    • Bluestem Conversations
    • Friday Workdays
    • Events
    • Newsletter
    • Building Community
  • Green Burial
    • Principles
    • Planning for Burial
    • Burial Costs
    • Burial Areas
    • Conservation Burial
    • Remembering Loved Ones
    • One Family's Story
    • Service Providers
    • Articles & Resources
  • Visit
    • Map
    • Explore Bluestem
    • Walking Tours
    • Birds at Bluestem
  • Donate
    • Building Bluestem
    • Make A Gift
  • Contact