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SATURDAY December 6, 2003 - Subscribe - Contact Us Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels November 26, 2003 Making peace with the world By Erin Gartner The Associated Press WOODLAND PARK, Colo. Tucked into thick forest at the base of Pikes Peak, the small cemetery is almost indistinguishable from the mountain terrain. Don and Barbara Blehm stand in the chapel area of Mountain Wilderness Memorial Park on Nov. 14 near Woodland Park, Colo. Mountain Wilderness Memorial Park is among a handful of "green" cemeteries in the United States devoted to environment-friendly burials. The idea is to leave the sites looking natural by not allowing headstones or artificial landscaping. Tom Kimmell | The Associated Press Beneath towering pine trees, cremated remains are worked into the ground and marked by a flat brick with a bronze plate inscribed with a name, dates and sometimes a short phrase. Some are decorated with pine cones, native stones and branches. Aside from a small gathering area with 10 log benches and a stone podium, the two-acre site is natural. "It's peaceful, it's serene. I think it's a good alternative for people who don't want the traditional cemetery," said Joleen Schneider, whose first husband is buried in the park. "My husband didn't want it to be a sad thing, he wanted it to be positive. "And that's how we look at the garden. It really fit into how we lived. We kind of homesteaded our 40 acres up here, so it's a back-to-nature kind of thing. It's really perfect." Mountain Wilderness Memorial Park is among a handful of "green" cemeteries devoted to environment-friendly burials. The idea is to leave the sites looking natural by not allowing headstones or artificial landscaping. Bridging the gap Some say such sites help bridge a modern-day division between humans and nature. "If your father is buried there, you have a deeper connection to the land, whether you have strong connections to the environment or not," Dr. Billy Campbell said. In 1996, the South Carolina physician founded Memorial Ecosystems to help people create environmentally friendly burial sites alongside nature preserves. Hundreds of green burial sites exist in the United Kingdom, where they are called woodland cemeteries. As open space diminishes, nature preserves that maintain a small area for green burials help protect the environment and provide a peaceful setting, Campbell said. "The idea is to make these graves look almost natural - woodland in England, prairie in Colorado," he said. "The idea of dust to dust in a real literal sense." Mountain Wilderness owner Don Blehm came up with the idea after years in the funeral business, tucking the cemetery at the end of a dirt road outside this small town about 80 miles south of Denver. Too often, people would feel pressured to spend more than they could afford on a loved one's funeral, he said. As cremation became more popular, some families wanted to spread the ashes in the mountains - prohibited in national and state parks - but needed a place they could visit. Some people chose Mountain Wilderness for its simplicity or to protect the environment; others wanted an inexpensive burial. The cemetery contains more than 300 gravesites although it resembles a common hiking trail. Small statues, American flags and other mementoes left at sites are gathered every other week to keep the area natural. Prices range from $545 to $1,045, said Blehm, who provides services through his Mountain Memorial Funeral Home in nearby Divide. An entire service, including cremation, a memorial service, the plot and bronze plaque, is less than $2,000. The average funeral in the United States costs $5,320 excluding cemetery costs, according to the National Funeral Home Directors Association. A lesser-known option A portion of Campbell's 33-acre Ramsey Creek Nature Preserve in Westminster, S.C., is a green cemetery that allows full-body burials. Vaults and toxic embalming fluids are prohibited. Only biodegradable caskets are allowed. Campbell wants to expand to a 70-acre site in metropolitan Denver. Like his South Carolina park, it would be a nature preserve with a small cemetery. Brothers John and William Wilkerson sought Campbell's advice to preserve their family's 350-acre farm in Glendale, a tiny town in the Florida Panhandle. They created a preserve to maintain the farm's ponds, streams and woodlands and provide a small cemetery in the natural setting. Blehm also is looking to open a larger site because many people have inquired about body burials, which are prohibited at Mountain Wilderness. The new site would allow biodegradable caskets but embalming chemicals would be prohibited. Blehm does not advertise Mountain Wilderness, only offering it to people if they ask about scattering ashes. But word-of-mouth has attracted people from across the country, from different economic backgrounds and from various religious beliefs. Hospice nurse Linda Shelhamer's son is buried in the park. The 15-year-old died in February, but the family waited until June to spread his ashes. "When they actually put the stone down, we were really dreading going out there - seeing it in writing would make it more real. But when we went out there, there was a double rainbow. Pikes Peak was in the background. The view was beautiful," Shelhamer said. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Road Cams