News

Warren Prairie Sanctuary

 

Last fall, NICHES accepted a donation of a conservation easement (CE) over 3.4 acres in Warren County from Warren Prairie Sanctuary, Inc. (WPS).

 

WPS is a volunteer-run, non-profit organization with a mission to provide an environmentally sustainable form of internment, where the body is returned to the earth to decompose naturally and support the regeneration of new life. WPS is also dedicated to environmental education, building community, and providing family support to all who are interested in an alternative to conventional burial processes.

Affectionately known as ‘The Cemeprairie,’ this 3.4-acre burial ground features a restored Indiana prairie and is perched high above a scenic oxbow of Big Pine Creek. This easement is contiguous with another conservation easement that NICHES holds with Warren Piece Co. on an additional 65 acres of restored prairie, woodland, and wetland habitat. These two conservation easements are located near NICHES’s fee-owned properties, Crow’s Grove, Honey Branch Bluff, Swanson’s Bluff, and Fall Creek Gorge, all of which are part of a larger 535-acre matrix of protected habitat in the Big Pine Valley.

The Cemeprairie features a rich tapestry of native vegetation including grasses such as little bluestem, prairie cordgrass, and Indian grass. Native prairie wildflowers are present throughout, including milkweed species, mountain mints, bee balm, coneflowers, queen of the prairie, and ironweed. We are grateful to The Whistler Foundation and WPS for their generosity in contributing to the stewardship endowment of this conservation easement, ensuring its long-term support and care.

NICHES’ partnership with WPS is historic and establishes the Cemeprairie as the first conservation burial ground in the state of Indiana. We are proud to help provide this opportunity for natural burial to our community. NICHES will protect the prairie via the CE and steward the land cooperatively with WPS members, and WPS will manage the burial details. As this initiative develops, NICHES is excited to work with other land trusts to help make conservation burial a more accessible option in the state. This partnership provides a beautiful opportunity for NICHES members, as well as the general public, to have their final resting place forever protected by NICHES.

If you or someone you know is interested in conservation burial, or you would like to learn more, please reach out to WPS via their website, www.warrenprairiesanctuary.org.