A new Johnson County nonprofit aims to create the first conservation burial cemetery in the state of Iowa. 

Founded just this year, the Back to Ground Natural Burial Cemetery group is in talks with local land trusts and the nationwide Conservation Burial Alliance to give those in Iowa easier access to an all-natural, or green burial option. 

A green burial typically occurs without embalming, a traditional casket, or a concrete burial vault. Conservation burial, in particular, aims to preserve the land while also letting the deceased return to it, said Jeffery Ford, a co-chair of Back to Ground and a member of several Johnson County nonprofits. 

“Our goal is to create a different kind of space,” Ford said. “I’m most interested in this because  I’m conservation-minded to start with, and I’ve found a great deal of connection and spirituality in the land and I think this provides a great opportunity to help people reconnect; there’s nothing more powerful than burying your loved ones.” 

Although the group is still in its “building stage,” Ford said they hope to have a piece of land within the next two to three years. However, this space must meet a series of requirements, including size, conservation status, and location relevant to Iowa City and Coralville. 

“Ideally, it would be within a short drive of the major metropolitan areas of the county,” Ford said. “It would have some remnant native plant life and ecosystem on it. Ideally, it would be large enough that we could foresee a long-term solution … we have a much less dense commitment to burial than a typical cemetery.”

While non-green cemeteries usually have anywhere from 1,200 to 1,400 grave plots per acre, Ford said, a conservation cemetery will likely be around 300 plots per acre. To find land that would work for Back to Ground, the organization has been in talks with the fellow nonprofit Bur Oak Land Trust.

The trust was founded in 1978 and is run by Executive Director Jason Taylor. Both nonprofits frequently meet to discuss the next steps and any laws or restrictions Back to Ground might run into while trying to acquire land for a cemetery. Taylor said the land trust is hopeful for its partnership with Back to Ground because both groups have similar environmental goals. 

“From the beginning, there was an idea around if there is going to be a conservation burial ground, some organization is going to have to be responsible for the conservation side of it,” Taylor said. “If there’s a way to serve the community better by integrating this idea of conservation burial into what we’re already doing, I think that it is a good thing overall for the community.” 

Becky Hoffbauer is a practicing death doula, caregiver, and another co-chair for Back to Ground, and spoke with Taylor initially to conceptualize the Back to Ground nonprofit a little over a year ago. 

While Hoffbauer has known about conservation burial for over a decade, she decided to look into it further as an option for her clients but noticed that Iowa was behind the trend. 

“Iowa is bordered by several states that have cemeteries dedicated to just natural burial, and most of them that I’m interested in are the conservation burial cemeteries that also act as a nature preserve, and cares for the land in its natural native state in into perpetuity,” Hoffbauer said. “And that’s what I want for myself.”

Currently, the closest dedicated natural burial site listed on the Conservation Burial Alliance website is Casper Creek Natural Cemetery, located in Elizabeth, Illinois — about two hours from Iowa City. 

Green burials are intended to be environmentally conscious, as they don’t allow for the leeching of chemicals into the ground from embalmed bodies. According to an Environmental Protection Agency report, formaldehyde left over from embalmed bodies can cause harm to animals and can be found in ambient air, contributing to overall pollution. The chemical is also a known potent carcinogen, according to the report.

Hoffbauer said these factors make conservation burial a critical choice for the future of the planet. 

“Conventional burial is absolutely not sustainable. This planet can not bear those practices,” Hoffbauer said. 

Additionally, while cremation is on the rise in Iowa and across the nation as an alternative to traditional burial, the process is not as environmentally conscious as conservation burial. 

Lee Webster, the co-founder of the Conservation Burial Alliance, wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan that cremation processes don’t save land, but rather avoid it and create additional issues with the disposal of leftovers. 

“Conservation burial is a one-step process that has no residual effects or downsides environmentally; in fact, it is the only method we have that sequesters carbon and other elements rather than emitting them into the atmosphere,” Webster said.

Webster also noted that Iowa’s lack of a conservation burial space comes down to a question of legislation, not will. 

“I hear from plenty of Iowans who very much want this option but Iowa’s funeral laws are highly restrictive,” Webster wrote. “There is a general sense by Iowans in the know of disempowerment and distance from having any authority regarding anything to do with the death trades.”

Webster wrote that Iowa cemetery law is “highly proscribed,” and requires expensive surveys, specific dimensions for plots, a plat system filed with the state, and a $25,000 care fund deposit before opening if the cemetery is not run by a government agency. 

While the Back to Ground Natural Burial Cemetery continues to talk with Bur Oak Land Trust about potential land options and the business side of the nonprofit’s operations, Bur Oak might not be the group to eventually provide the land, Ford said. 

Back to Ground has also spoken with local funeral homes, including Lensing Funeral Home in Iowa City which offers biodegradable caskets, as well as a funeral home in Cedar Rapids, though no official partnership has been formed yet. 

“The mission is to practice environmentally sensitive burial traditions that help conserve the land, and to do that in a way that connects people back to the land for me,” Ford said. “I hope we can get this worked out in the next two to three years.”