However, 1) Regular controlled burning prevents the growth of trees and woody shrubs. I have been through plenty of cemeteries that are completely overgrown with trees; burning would have kept this from happening. 2) Land preserved in a natural state by a conservation organization or government entity is not likely to end up being paved over. The truly UNKNOWN burial sites, if they remain unknown (i.e., nobody has discovered that piece of paper yet), will also remain endangered. The KNOWN burial sites on protected land will likely remain protected. Note that I said "sites," not "stones." 3) As far as names, we all know of cemeteries with two, three, or more names. Families move on, new ones take their place, towns disappear, etc. While I'm certainly against the purposeful "renaming" of a cemetery according to the whims of whichever entity controls it at the time, I'm not sure that this has been the case with St. John's Lutheran/Cemetery Barren. I've been under the impression that the cultural site is still St. John's Lutheran, while the natural resource feature is now called Cemetery Barren. Can anyone verify this one way or the other? I personally don't care what a cemetery is called if the site is still intact. -----Original Message----- From: Brian Smead [SMTP:bsmead@gte.net] Sent: Friday, September 28, 2001 4:03 PM To: INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [INPCRP] Cemeteries and nature Steve, Like you, I also abhor vandalism in our cemeteries. Letting a cemetery go back to it's "natural state" by letting the pretty flowers and grasses grow is, I consider, vandalism. Where will it stop. Next will be trees and scrubs that should also grow. Then the root get into our families remains, headstones get knocked over and in the future there's nothing but a vacant field full of plants. Now, since there is nothing there, and some old paperwork says there used to be a cemetery but nothing else to prove that, why not just put up a mall, or another gas station. ST JOHNS LUTHERAN cemetery will one day do just that. Once you give an inch, you might as will give up, you've lost. Brian E. Smead Terre Haute, Indiana