Beyond the familiar “green burial” business of escaping the toxic culture of the conventional death industry, what appeals to author Richard Conniff (and a growing number of people) is the idea of using the cost of burials to buy and preserve undeveloped land. "Natural burial grounds" or "forest cemeteries" tend to look less like cemeteries and more like fields and woods, with walking trails.

"I doubt that I put it in so many words at the time, but the thought has lately come back to me: This is how I want to be dead. That is, in the woods, with wild things all around."

Op-ed in the July 7, 2017 New York Times, read it here.