In a message dated 07/05/2000 9:02:09 PM Pacific Daylight Time, jamaltby@creative.net writes: << There is no respect for the dead when the developers are trying to make money. >> Our very small community was fortunate to save our cemetery (established in 1870) from an unscrupulous developer. While I would be one of the first to sign a petition for county, state, or nation - wide protection it requires a dedicated, no-holds barred determined LOCAL to see a project through. We won ... got the Board of Supervisors to TAKE the property (which the developer had gained illegally, but some yahoo in county government hadn't had the nerve to oppose) through eminent domain proceedings. Durham Cemetery is now a gorgeous (albeit small at 4.5 acres), oak tree canopied memorial to the dead, and newly dedicated cemetery. Jurisdictions are different in all areas, and while a broadcast "rule" or "law" may work well for a majority of cemetery preservation efforts, developers -- and those who see dollar signs at the end of a contract -- don't worry about disturbing "some old cemetery." When speaking before the Butte County (California) Planning Commission I was asked why this potential development would be of any concern to me as it had already been established that I had no family buried there. My response was that developers are required by California law to keep their gray water (sewage) on their own properties, and that this area is prone to standing and high water during wet years. The adjacent property is a golf course, and knowing golfers I felt that they wouldn't want to take anything but a pristine little white ball out of the 5th fairway. I said that I had a great aversion to a leach field going "through somebody's grandmother's bones," and that was quoted in the newspaper. The developer said that there were "just a few people buried there" ... and in California at least as few as six interments determine a CEMETERY. We were before a county judge who asked how we would prove that there were more than just a few buried there. I asked the judge if he would allow a period of time to do research, and suggested that an obituary or death certificate might well be found for everyone thought to be buried there (you couldn't see the markers for the weeds). An obit is the means by which we invite our friends and neighbors to the services. While there are errors, the fact that John Jones died yesterday and is being buried at a particular cemetery tomorrow is rarely in error as it is our official notification. Death certificates have been required for many years, and it too shows the place of burial. He agreed with the argument (the developer was apoplectic) ... We found 396. If you need to fight an intended development, work with all your might to get the school kids, PTA members, ministers of ALL denominations, members of your local planning commission, boards of supervisors, and local community members and businessmen to stand behind you .... then get the press on board, and you'd be surprised how well your efforts can end up. Adriana Farley Durham, CA