Colorado Burial Preserve & Cremation Garden in Florence is the first cemetery in the state dedicated to conservation. Instead of the manicured sod and tight rows at a conventional cemetery, the Preserve is 65 acres of natural prairie-pinyon habitat. After a burial, the soil is amended and seeded with adapted native perennials to help combat invasive weeds. This proactive treatment improves the quality of forage and habitat for countless native and migratory birds, animals and pollinator insects. Families of the deceased find comfort knowing that the body can return to the earth in the natural way, and new life is enriched throughout our ecosystem as a result. 

Colorado Burial Preserve, Ltd. was founded in 2020 in response to growing demand in the community for a wild final resting place. Development and Green Burial Council certification involved an Environmental Impact Analysis to thoroughly evaluate the baseline ecological conditions at the Preserve. As a certified Natural Burial Grounds, CBP permits only unembalmed remains to be buried in biodegradable caskets or shrouds. The burial gardens, which consist of both full body and cremation graves, are designed with extra-large spaces. This way, funeral services need not destroy the existing native vegetation or other unique features of the landscape. Options for memorial markers blend with the natural environment. 

The first six burial gardens are available now for prearrangement and immediate need. Private tours of the Preserve are now available by appointment, and development continues on hiking trails, an outdoor service chapel, and a sustainably-built, off-grid restroom facility. When finished, the Preserve will be a public resource for nature enrichment, promoting awareness of our interconnected ecosystem, as well as a peaceful and beautiful location to establish the legacy of a family cemetery plot.

CBP Owner and founder Emily B. Miller, CMSP, is a licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer. She stepped away from a career in conventional funeral home management to become a leader in conservation burial in Colorado.  Inspired by this history in funeral service, Emily envisions the Preserve as a catalyst for reclaiming burial rituals and climate-conscious end-of-life education.