The Burial Forest Is Still Alive

It has been over two years since I last wrote an update here. Given the silence, you might reasonably wonder whether the Burial Forest is still happening.

It is.

So what has been happening?

Where things stand

Mostly, we have been waiting.

When we began this project, cemeteries were allowed in Brooks Township with a special-use permit. We bought the 20 acres and began the process of establishing a small conservation burial ground there.

The township responded by changing its ordinance to prohibit cemeteries. With the help of the Institute for Justice (IJ), we challenged that ban in court and won. The township appealed, and the case is now before the Michigan Court of Appeals. Briefing was completed in June 2025, but we are still waiting for the court to schedule the case.

Meanwhile, the township has adopted new cemetery regulations. They no longer ban cemeteries outright, but their requirements make establishing one extraordinarily difficult—and perhaps impossible—anywhere in the township.

So, the long silence here hasn't meant the project disappeared. There simply hasn't been much movement to report.

All the while, people continue to find the project and join the waitlist. I continue to be invited to speak about green burial. And there is still no conservation burial option available in Michigan.

The forest is worth waiting for

Something else has happened while I've been waiting: I've gotten to know the forest better.

I've now spent about five years walking these 20 acres, learning its trees and plants, and watching it change through the seasons. Over the past two summers, my work conducting botanical inventories and assessing natural areas around West Michigan has given me new ways of understanding this land.

What I've learned is that this isn't simply a beautiful piece of woods that would make a good place for a green cemetery. It is a natural area worth conserving in its own right. (I'll share more about that in the next post.)

For now, know this: I intend to keep the forest, and I still hope that someday it can become what we originally envisioned—a place where people can be buried simply beneath the trees, where becoming part of the forest is more than a metaphor, and where caring for our dead helps protect the land we also love.

But that leaves us with a problem.

Not everyone can wait

Some people joined the waitlist because this is what they want someday. Others have contacted me because they need an option for themselves or someone they love much sooner.

Perhaps waiting for this particular forest doesn't have to mean waiting for the entire idea.

Maybe there is another piece of land. Maybe there is a community that would welcome a conservation burial forest. Maybe there are other possibilities we haven't considered.

And maybe this isn't a problem I should be trying to solve alone.

There is a community here now: people on the waitlist, people who come to talks, people who write to me, and people who have quietly followed this project for years. We've gathered around the same hope.

So after two years without an update, I'm coming back with a question:

What shall we do?

Before making any big decisions, I want to do some listening. I'm planning to gather a small group of people who have been close to the project to talk through possible next steps. After that, I'd like to hold an online town hall for anyone interested in the Burial Forest.

I'll share details here and by email when those plans take shape. For now, I invite you to start thinking about what you hope this project could become—and what might help us get there.

The Burial Forest is still alive. I'm still here. And, judging from the people who keep finding this project, the hope for a place like this is still very much alive, too.

It's time for us to move this forward.