Conservation Easement Primer for
Green Burial Advocates- Frank Aiello
Non-profit
land trusts acquire land through traditional acquisition and the conservation
easement, a legal restriction on the development of land. This session
will provide a basic introduction to the conservation easement and its
potential value in a green burial project. No prior legal training is
required to attend this session.
Frank Aiello
Frank
Aiello is an Assistant Professor at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Auburn
Hills, Michigan, where he teaches Property Law, Secured Transactions and Land
Use Planning and Zoning Law. Before joining Cooley in 2005, he was an Associate
with Bodman LLP, where he practiced in the areas of commercial finance and real
estate development. Professor Aiello's research interest is effective
land use and conservation techniques. He has provided hundreds of hours of pro bono legal service to land trusts in
Michigan and is the editor of the Michigan Model Conservation Easement.
Cemetery Regulations-Ted Hornyak
One of the
first steps in establishing any cemetery is to contact local and
state/provincial government agencies to determine the laws or regulations
concerning cemeteries. This session
will help you identify those agencies.
We’ll also discuss the differences between for-profit, non-profit and
religious cemeteries, endowment/perpetual care and preneed trusting
requirements and the need to establish rules and regulations for your cemetery.
Theodore J. Hornyak
Ted
Hornyak serves as the Investigator for the Cemetery Section of the Ohio Dept.
of Commerce Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing, which
administers the Ohio Cemetery Dispute Resolution Commission. He was previously an Investigator in the
Environmental Enforcement Section of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, a
Private Investigator with Evidence Research Services, and an Investigator with
the Portage County Prosecutor’s Office.
Ted is immediate past president of the North American Cemetery
Regulators Association where he currently serves as Chair of the Policy, Law
Review, and Consumer Affairs Committee.
Green Cemetery Design- Stephen
Christy
True
landscape architecture is a melding of science, engineering, and art. The
landscape architect is a creator and interpreter. In the case of green
cemeteries, the landscape architect must take the client’s program and wishes
and turn it into a physical reality. What is the best site to chose? What is
the land saying? How will this land mature in the future? And lastly, how does
one design and implement the experience the client seeks?
This
session on green cemetery design will cover topics ranging from the general —
site selection — to the very specific — what monuments are appropriate, and
where. All these points are important to creating the feelings and memories
emanating from these hallowed areas.
Stephen Christy
Stephen Christy is the principal of Stephen Christy, LLC, located in Chicago and Lake Forest, specializing in land planning, landscape architecture, and historic landscape restoration. He serves on the advisory board of the Green Burial Council. He is a frequent writer, authoring most recently The Forest Preserve District of Cook County: Study and Recommendations. Mr. Christy received his B.A. in English from Kenyon College and his M.A. in Landscape Architecture from the University of Wisconsin.
Funding a Conservation-Based Burial
Ground- Joe Sehee
This
seminar will focus on opportunities for financing conservation-based burial
grounds. It will examine public-private projects, government funding
sources, the use of private equity investment, as well as recently utilized
tools such as insurance and land donation. Case studies will be covered
as will strategies for more effectively engaging the funeral service industry.
The Green Burial Council- Joe Sehee
This
session will introduce The Green Burial Council. Since 2005, the Green Burial Council has been working to make
burial sustainable for the planet, meaningful for the families, and
economically viable for the provider. And in that short period of time, we've
emerged as the "gold standard" among consumers, land trusts, park
service agencies as well the cemetery/funeral profession.
Joe Sehee
Joe Sehee
is Executive Director of the Green Burial Council; a national nonprofit
organization that seeks to encourage environmentally sustainable deathcare and
the use of burial as a strategy for protecting natural areas. He also
works a consultant who assists in creating conservation-based scattering/burial
programs by bringing together land trusts and park service agencies together
with cemetery operators, funeral service providers, and cremation
companies. Sehee is a Senior Fellow at the Environmental Leadership
Program and a former “Environpreneur” Fellow with the Property Environment
Research Center.
Convincing Your Non-profit Board of
Directors-Gordon T. Maupin
Gordon
Maupin first brought the concept of a nature preserve cemetery to his
organization in 1999. Foxfield Preserve opened in 2008. But, don’t despair. It was
not a priority until 2007. However,
many lessons were learned as The Wilderness Center and its diverse board
thought through the concept and the process.
In this session, Maupin will tell the story and offer insight into
avoiding various pitfalls as your board works its collective mind around an
outside the box concept.
Gordon T. Maupin
Gordon T. Maupin has served as
Executive Director of The Wilderness Center, a nonprofit nature center and land
trust since 1981. Prior to that, he
worked for the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Oklahoma Department
of Wildlife Conservation. He has a BS in Biology and a MA in Plant Ecology. In
recent years, he has taken The Wilderness Center in an
"ecopreneurial" direction starting a wetland mitigation business, TWC
Consulting Forestry and Foxfield Preserve.
Keynote Address- Mark Harris
Harris
presents a “lively” tour of a new, greener American Way of Death. Called “one
of the most compelling and well-received public lectures I have attended during
my ten years here,” by one client, Harris leads visual, intriguing forays into
natural cemeteries and domestic graveyards, onto boats from which ashes and
“memorial reefs” are cast into the sea. He shows eco-coffins of simple pine,
bamboo, and wicker, and introduces “alternative funeral practitioners” who
conduct home funerals. Archival photographs show early American funerals and
their progression to the more involved sendoffs of today.
Mark Harris-Keynote Speaker
An
award-winning journalist and a former environmental columnist with the Los
Angeles Times Syndicate, Mark Harris is a recognized authority on the “green
burial” movement and the modern funeral industry. Harris’ highly-acclaimed book, Grave Matters: A Journey Through
the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial (2007, Scribner) has
been called the “manifesto of the [green burial] movement.” It’s the first and
only book to explore the environmental aftermath of modern burial and funerals
in North America and to showcase the natural alternatives that are coming to
replace them.
Marketing and Media: Vicki Capps
& Dan Kelly
One of the
best ways to get the word out about your natural burial ground is through
effective marketing techniques. This
session will discuss the dos and don’ts of tastefully and effectively marketing
your product. Logo design, brand
development, and advertising will be covered as well as media relations.
Dan Kelly
As Motion Graphics Director, Dan Kelly is in charge of
directing, shooting, and editing video projects for WRL's clients. He came to
WRL in October 2003 from Thread Interactive in Toledo, OH, and graduated with a
Bachelor's Degree in Visual Communications Technology from Bowling Green State
University. Outside of the agency,
Kelly enjoys playing guitar and harmonica, working on stained glass art,
restoring vintage motorcycles, running and weight training, and enjoying the
outdoors.
Vicki Capps
Vicki
Capps has handled Marketing and Public Relations for The Wilderness Center for
over eight years. She comes from a background of 25 years of Marketing and
Business for non-profit organizations. She handles the website, all
publications, newsletters, press releases, and more for not only Foxfield
Preserve Nature Preserve Cemetery, but for The Wilderness Center as
well. Vicki is also the Volunteer Coordinator and leads Ecotours
for The Wilderness Center.
Ramsey Creek: The First Ten Years-
Billy Campbell
An
assessment of the first decade of natural burial in the US: things we did not
expect, mistakes we made, lessons learned, thoughts about the future.
Billy Campbell
Dr. George
William (Billy) Campbell, MD, was born and raised in the foothills of western
South Carolina’s mountains. He attended
Emory University, graduating with a B.S. in Biology in 1977. He graduated with his M.D. from the Medical
University of South Carolina in 1981.
In 1984, he moved home to Westminster, where he has practiced medicine,
and has been the town’s only physician since 1994. After speaking and writing about death care as a conservation
tool for more than 10 years, Billy and his wife Kimberley founded Memorial
Ecosystems in 1996, and opened the Ramsey Creek Preserve in 1998. Ramsey
Creek served as a laboratory for developing the specific techniques for green
interment and project design. It was here that Billy developed most of the
standards for what is now known as conservation burial. Dr. Campbell has spoken
to numerous groups over the years, including the Natural Areas Association, the
Society for Ecological Restoration, the Land Trust Alliance and many others.
Legal Issues for Creating a Green
Burial Ground-Robert Shedlarz
Discussion
will include: whether such a venture would be acceptable and wanted in the
community, a focus on land use, zoning, and various administrative hurdles that
need to be addressed. Compliance with
incorporation requirements in the state where the cemetery will be located,
either profit or not for profit corporation. Operational legalities,
which differ based on profit or non profit status. Requirements for
initial performance bond, amortization of bond through lot sales, and careful
allocation of funds received from purchasers of burial rights, through
affiliated organization, or on a stand alone basis.
Bob Shedlarz is a practicing attorney and the
solicitor for the village of Navarre, Ohio.
He is Professor Emeritus of Business Law at The University of Akron and
is on the Board of Directors at The Wilderness Center and the Massillon Museum. His legal expertise was integral in the
establishment of Foxfield Preserve. He
currently advises The Wilderness Center and Foxfield Preserve on all legal
matters. He holds a B.A. from New York
University and a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame.
Site Selection &
Evaluation- Gary Popotnik
During this session, we will focus on- Site
selection: using soil and hydrography layers and GIS. Conservation Lands:
existing conservation lands and their role in providing local and regional
biodiversity. And Connectivity: How your cemetery can play a role in providing
on-site and off-site wildlife habitat.
Gary Popotnik
Gary Popotnik is a conservation biologist and the land
stewardship director at The Wilderness Center.
He holds a B.S. in wildlife
biology and M.S. in biology. Before coming to TWC, Gary worked for both the
Refuge System and Ecological Services of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and
the Ohio chapter of The Nature Conservancy.
Record Keeping and
Documentation Requirements for Cemeteries – Gina Mast
Although requirements for record keeping vary from
across the country, the North American Cemetery Regulators Association has
developed and adopted a number of documents and forms that incorporate best
business practices, improved uniformity across the industry and a reduced need
for legal services. This session
provides an introduction to these forms and a discussion on the development of
a database to track the required information electronically, thereby reducing
the amount of time required to manage this part of the business. Forms include
Interment Instructions, Itemized Statements, Bill of Sales, Certificates of
Interment Rights, Memorial Certificates and Certificates of Completion.
Gina Mast
Gina Mast has been with The Wilderness Center since
2004 primarily responsible for coordinating the activities of the center’s
fund-raising events. Gina has degrees in engineering and math from West
Virginia University and previously worked in the for-profit arena of new
product development and database management.
Joel Rabinowitz
Joel Rabinowitz is the executive director of
Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve, which opened in 2006 as New York
State’s first cemetery dedicated exclusively to natural burial. He served as a
trustee for Greensprings for over two years before starting as director in July
2007. He previously worked as a research analyst and database manager in the
development offices of Ithaca College and Cornell University, and also as a
staff historian for a public archaeology company. A member of the Finger Lakes
Land Trust, he served on its board and chaired its development committee. Joel
and his wife, Dorothy, enjoy hiking, cross-country skiing and bird-watching in
the beautiful Finger Lakes region.