Dispute over green cemetery heads to court amid growing interest in natural burials

When Matt Connell bought a 20-acre hayfield three years ago in rural Blackhoof Township, about 25 miles southwest of Duluth, he had a vision to provide a space for a new kind of cemetery — a more sustainable death care tradition.

He pictures an arboretum-like setting, with wildflowers and trees, a chapel and meditation spaces, and a winding path through the meadow where about 500 gravesites are marked not with granite headstones, but by a tree or a blueberry bush.

It’s a place where people could bury their loved ones without embalming them. Instead, they’d be wrapped in a cotton shroud or placed in a simple, biodegradable casket. Graves would be dug by hand and the bodies would not be placed in underground concrete vaults.

"You're not going to see a conventional-style cemetery,” Connell said, while pointing out some of the more than a dozen species of native wildflowers he’s planted on the property. “I want people to drive by here and see that this is an oasis of beauty. I want it to feel welcoming.”

But Connell’s plan for a green cemetery, which seeks to tap into a growing desire for more environmentally friendly burials without toxic chemicals and expensive caskets and vaults, is not getting a very welcome reception from neighbors of the plot of land and others in this rural part of Carlton County.

Large signs posted on the edge of his property read "Protect our Wetlands: NO BURIALS.” Locals say they’re concerned about everything from impacts to water quality to fears that pets and wild animals will dig up body parts. Their stern opposition led state lawmakers to impose a two-year moratorium on green cemeteries while the state health department conducted a study of the concept. Just before that moratorium expired this past summer, Carlton County passed a one-year moratorium of its own while county officials weigh their next steps.

While Connell and I walked across his land, gunshots rang out from a neighboring property. Connell said it was an example of the intimidation he’s faced over the past three years from community members who oppose his plans.

But Connell says he refuses to back down. He and his business partner filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing Carlton County officials of illegally blocking his project on land zoned to allow for private cemeteries. He also alleges that the county is violating his constitutional and religious rights.

County officials say they can’t discuss the lawsuit, but they have filed a motion to have the case dismissed. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in federal court.

“Anything new and different is going to scare people,” said Connell. “And it scared them to the point where they felt comfortable violating our rights.”

The ‘ick’ factor

Connell says his journey to becoming a caretaker for a natural cemetery began about eight years ago, when he longed to escape the confines of a nine-to-five corporate marketing job.

He stumbled across a TED talk on alternative burials that sent him down a rabbit hole of internet research that eventually led him to Ed Bixby, founder of Steelmantown Church in New Jersey, which operates several natural cemeteries around the country.

They became friends and partners. They first identified an abandoned pioneer cemetery in southeast Minnesota they tried to use for natural burials, but the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Winona County fought their claim and they walked away.

Next they turned to acquiring a piece of private land. Connell looked north toward Duluth in search of cheaper property values. He fell in love with the land in Blackhoof Township on a gravel road, in an area of forest, fields and rural homesteads.

Importantly, said Connell, it was zoned to allow for a private cemetery, without the need to acquire a conditional use permit.

“When you see something as an approved use with no permit required, that, to me, implies community approval,” Connell said. “And so it was very attractive to come here.”

But he soon learned many of his neighbors did not approve of his plans. More than a hundred residents signed a petition opposing the proposal that was submitted to Carlton County officials.

“Our state didn't have any guidelines on any of this,” said Matt Arnold, who lives next to Connell’s property and who has posted several anti-cemetery signs. He’s especially concerned about the potential contamination of a small wetland between the two properties.

“Our biggest issue is what's safe, what is right, what is proper,” Arnold said.

Arnold, who runs a business selling and repairing church organs, disputes that he and others are trying to intimidate Connell. He wishes Connell would have tried to talk with community members to work out their differences, “instead of trying to push your way through without talking to anyone, and making neighbors a little bit defensive,” Arnold said.

A state lawmaker who represents the region took up their cause, and in 2023 the Legislature passed a two-year moratorium on new green cemeteries and ordered a study by the Minnesota Department of Health.

That study says green burial enriches the soil and can be done safely to protect water resources. It spells out where bodies should not be buried — in flood prone areas or within set distances from water sources. The study also recommends burying bodies about 3.5-feet deep to maximize decomposition and prevent groundwater contamination.

Elsewhere, the report says cemeteries should be avoided on steep slopes and in places with sandy soil or shallow groundwater.

Eric Braun, a Baptist minister whose property backs up to the proposed cemetery, told a legislative committee earlier this year his opposition to the proposal was initially emotional– based on the “ick factor.”

Now he says he’s not opposed to green burials in general — he just thinks they shouldn’t be allowed at this specific site.

"They recommend avoid sandy soils, avoid water sources, avoid slopes, which all three of those recommendations not to do it exist on this piece of property."

‘Tremendously intimate’

The dispute playing out in Carlton County comes amid a surge in interest in green burials. According to the state report, cemeteries nationwide have reported a 72 percent increase in demand for them.

"People are interested. They're curious. They want to know more, and they certainly want more availability of green burial,” said Angela Woosley, owner of Inspired Journeys, which she describes as a naturally focused funeral home in the Twin Cities.

Woosely says there are no cemeteries currently in the state similar to what Connell is trying to create — a place specifically devoted to natural burials. Instead, she works with a handful of traditional cemeteries in the Twin Cities that allow green burials.

She thinks the surge in interest in green burial coincides with many people’s growing desire to tread more lightly on the earth and have a smaller carbon footprint. And that now extends to how people are thinking about their death.

"If their selves, if their energy can feed pollinators, plants and trees and wildlife in a way that incorporates them into the circle of life, that resonates, and that feels like something good can happen from our death,” she said.

It’s also less expensive than a traditional funeral. “It can be 20 to 30 percent cheaper” because you're not buying an expensive casket and a burial vault, said Scott Mueller, owner of Mueller Memorial and Interra Green Burial in the Twin Cities.

When Mueller first started in the funeral industry in the early 1980s, he said almost everyone he worked with was embalmed and buried conventionally. Now, he said, about 70 percent of bodies are cremated. He thinks it will take time, but he eventually anticipates a similar shift toward green burials.

“For those people that have done a green funeral, it is tremendously intimate,” Mueller said. “You go out to the cemetery, you generally are carrying a wicker casket, and you see the outline of that body right there. So there's no doubt as to who that is, and it provides a very intimate service.”

In fact, even some of the more fervent opponents of Loving Earth Memorial Gardens in Carlton County concede that they have become more intrigued by natural burials — even if they oppose the one being proposed in their backyards.

"I will tell you, this is an extremely attractive, viable alternative to cremation and regular burial,” said Eric Braun.

That’s why Matt Connell said he will continue to fight to open his cemetery, to offer that alternative to families that want it.

"This is something that Carlton County needs. It's not just for big city liberals. It's something that everyone needs."