Members of the INPCRP: I try very hard to stay out of debates such as this as my position as List Manager is to deal with the bounces, people who can't figure out how to unsubscribe themselves or change their e-mail addresses, etc. People, this situation is getting out of hand. I ask all of you to think before you hit the SEND button. Let's consider for a moment why we are here. I feel certain that more than 90% of the members of this group are passionately OPPOSED to turning pioneer cemeteries into prairie grasses specimens. I don't know this for an absolute mortal fact as we have a NUMBER of "lurkers" here, people who monitor this list but never post a message here and people who are employees of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources because they want to know what we are up to next. NO, I'm NOT going to remove Mr. Briles. Jack is the hardest-working human being I've ever known. He is passionate about identifying, protecting and preserving pioneer cemeteries in Indiana and that is 100% on-point as far as the goals and objectives of the INPCRP. Let's review the original "mission statement" of the INPCRP: The Indiana Pioneer Cemeteries Restoration Project was begun by Scott Satterthwaite in October 1997 as an effort to generate public awareness about the neglected pioneer cemeteries of Indiana. The state of Indiana is home to thousands of abandoned or neglected pioneer cemeteries, the oldest of which now approach 200 years. The goal of this project is to IDENTIFY, PROTECT, RESTORE and PRESERVE as many of these cemeteries as possible. This project was founded on the belief that we owe our pioneer ancestors a better monument than a forgotten grave amid bramble and thicket. Jack Briles has done more for cemetery PRESERVATION and RESTORATION than most of the rest of us COMBINED. He is tireless and dedicated to this cause. He has personally (and often-times single-handedly) RESTORED an untold number of cemeteries -- and paid for every expense out of his own pocket despite having a limited income. Yes, Jack is angry about the situation at St. John's Lutheran Church Cemetery. You have not witnessed the things Jack has seen. In my opinion, he has every right to be angry about this situation. There is an EXCELLENT possibility that Jack's first Indiana ancestor is buried in St. John's Cemetery but, guess what? He can't find a stone there. Further, he can't get **IN** the cemetery because of the vegetation. Here's he's got a Township Trustee who wants to clean up the cemetery. The people who live around the cemetery don't like the way it looks. Some of the descendants are upset about the way it looks. And Jack is ANGRY about the situation. This 20-history of allowing this cemetery to "revert" went into motion because the former Township Trustee did not WANT to take care of the cemetery in accordance with his statutory responsibilities. Jack Briles was also responsible for coordinating the clean-up of another Southern Indiana cemetery that was BULLDOZED by the parish priest in the 1960s because it was "too much trouble" to mow around the stones. The priest then allowed that cemetery to revert to what was for all the world a jungle. I cannot imagine another person on the planet who would have worked as hard and spent as much of his own gas and money spending DAYS down there investigating this situation, "making nice" with the township, county and church officials and desperately searching for intentionally smashed remnants of stone. Yes, Jack has the right to express his opinion in this forum, as do any of us. But, in this case, Jack speaks in accord with the majority opinion here. The situation at St. John's goes against everything we're trying to accomplish in our own counties. Mr. Curtis, you subscribed to this list at 1:35 A.M. on Friday, September 28. Mr. Lowry, you joined us at 10:33 PM on Saturday, September 29. Gentlemen, the vast majority of the other 161 members of this group are of the opinion that Indiana pioneer cemeteries are NOT the appropriate forum for the preservation of native plant life to the detriment of the cemeteries themselves or in such a way as to create an obstacle to access to those sites by descendants, historians, family history researchers or interested members of the public. I was a regional officer of a national land preservation organization for more than 3 years. I think I can appreciate as well as anyone the importance of preserving native plant life for which so much affinity has been expressed here in the last couple of days. I can recall several properties owned by that organization on which old cemeteries existed and they were specifically kept clean and accessible. It is my personal opinion that pioneer family cemeteries are NOT the appropriate place for prairie vegetation such as "Cemetery Barrens". Cemeteries are not for the benefit of the dead, any more than funerals are for the benefit of the deceased. A cemetery is a place where one human being can go and feel a connection to persons who passed before them. They are a connection between us and past generations. I do not feel that 5-foot tall grasses that hide the markers and monuments placed there to mark a loved one's final resting place are appropriate in any scenario. I am a Board member of what is quite possibly the OLDEST active cemetery in the State of Indiana. Our first "recorded" burial is from 1805. I am also a Trustee of another still-active cemetery which lists its earliest "recorded" burial as 1820. Yes, I know there are older graves in Indiana, but I'm talking about still ACTIVE cemeteries. I assure you that the mowing of the grass to, among other things, make the cemetery more accessible to the living public is a primary objective of our Associations. Finally, I have set the INPCRP list to "MODERATED" status until things calm down a bit. Lois Mauk INPCRP List Manager P.S.: Mr. Curtis unsubscribed to the INPCRP before I had a chance to send this message.