The municipality is short on cemetery space. If approved, a land disposal would allow a nonprofit to open up a new cemetery by 2028.
Published: 24 minutes ago Rachel Bernhardt is the founder and board president of Alaska Natural Burial which is proposing to use wooded city land near Golden View Drive into a natural burial cemetery.
Natural burial cemeteries allow for only bodies and biodegradable materials to be buried. Anchorage is running out of low-cost cemetery space. If approved by the Assembly, a land disposal would permit the creation of a new natural burial site, the first of its kind in Alaska, in South Anchorage.
For the past five years, Alaska Natural Burial founder and board president Rachel Bernhardt has been working on a project that would use wooded city land near Golden View. Bernhardt has said the nonprofit intends to offer a “low-cost option” for families, compared to a traditional casket cemetery. Instead of headstones, birdhouses, stones and benches would serve as grave markers, and the land would remain an open space.
No concrete, plastics, resins, metal or formaldehyde would be put into the ground, allowing nature to slowly reclaim a site after someone is buried. Alaska Natural Burial has proposed a natural burial site on Heritage Land Bank-managed land in South Anchorage boarding Potter Marsh Watershed Park.
The land the nonprofit hopes to build on — a 10-acre parcel in the Rabbit Creek neighborhood adjacent to the Potter Marsh Watershed Park — is held in the municipality’s Heritage Land Bank inventory. On Tuesday, the Assembly will hold a public hearing for the project and potentially vote on a land disposal that would kickstart the development of a new cemetery.
, this non-profit has stepped in to facilitate this much needed public service,” according to a memo from Mayor Suzanne LaFrance to the Assembly. Heritage Land Bank staff have continued to support the Alaska Natural Burial proposal as there has not been “adequate public interest” in paying for new cemeteries, the ordinance states. In 2024, voters rejected a $4 million bond that would have created new grave spaces in the Anchorage Bowl, Eagle River and Girdwood.
Anchorage's Memorial Park Cemetery, photographed in 2024. The cemetery is nearly out of space. A recent appraisal showed the property is worth $583,000. Heritage Land Bank staff requested the municipality give the land to Alaska Natural Burial for free due to the public benefits of the project, Heritage Land Bank land management officer Emma Giboney said during an Assembly work session Friday.
, created based on feedback from residents and Heritage Land Bank staff. According to the ordinance, Alaska Natural Burial will continue to work with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game on guidelines around best practices to avoid human-wildlife conflict. The nonprofit must establish an endowment fund for future maintenance after the cemetery has reached capacity by setting aside a portion of burial plot sales.
Bernhardt plans to place a conservation easement on the property to ensure it remains undeveloped and to work with Parks and Recreation to improve the existing trail system. The natural burial cemetery has been part of the Heritage Land Bank’s annual project list for four years and has received ongoing support from the neighboring Rabbit Creek Community Council and other residents, according to the memo.community interest in the project, it has raised a number of questions around how natural burials may influence wildlife behavior and concerns about the local hydrology, given the property’s proximity to Potter Marsh.
Anchorage has run out of affordable cemetery space. Natural burials could become a new alternativeOver the past few months, Bernhardt started drafting a list of best practices that will serve as a living document during the lifespan of the cemetery, she said. She is also working with Anchorage biologists to install game cameras to gain a baseline understanding of how animals move through the area.
“There’s always going to be unknowns, because nobody’s ever put a natural burial cemetery on that specific parcel,” Bernhardt said. Alaska Natural Burial is proposing to use wooded city land near Golden View Drive for a natural burial cemetery. Natural burial cemeteries allow for only bodies and biodegradable materials to be buried. If it’s approved by the Assembly, Bernhardt said, there are still project details to work through, including site plans and fundraising.
Once the land is obtained, the nonprofit can begin pursing grants, she said, and eventually open up reservations. The parcel is estimated to have the capacity for more than 2,000 natural graves at less 300 per acre. Bernhardt estimated it will likely be two years before the first burial occurs. The nonprofit plans to charge less than $5,000 for a gravesite reservation and burial service, she told Assembly members Friday.
The Assembly has already received more than 10 letters from residents in support of the natural burial project. A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday during the Assembly’s regular session. Bella Biondini is a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News covering city government and general assignments. She was previously the editor of the Gunnison Country Times and has also reported for High Country News, in addition to working as a photojournalist. Contact her at bbiondini@adn.com.
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