A 15-acre plot of land will be unveiled at Prairie Creek Preserve today.
The Alachua Conservation Trust will partner with Conservation Burial Inc. to host a joint celebration from 10:30 a.m. to noon, which will feature a brief ceremony followed by a hike of the new trail, open to all attendees.
The new piece features a new hiking trail, a kiosk and several tables where families can go picnic after exploring the trails or visiting the grave of a loved one, said Tom Kay, the executive director of ACT.
Kay said the addition is a conservation success story.
After years of intense negotiation with landowners and a donation from Conservation Burial Inc., the ACT finally purchased the narrow stretch of land for $115,000.
“It’s a really critical parcel,” Kay said. “It’s adjacent to Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery, it’s surrounded by Prairie Creek Preserve, and (it’s) also an optimal boundary for Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park.”
He said the funding for the project came, in part, from a donation made by Conservation Burial Inc., which specializes in eco-friendly burials, and from a one-day fundraiser held by the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.
Freddie Johnson, the executive director for Conservation Burial Inc., said he felt a calling to help save the land, which will add to his company’s acreage.
His company donated 10 percent of the burial fees it collected toward the land’s purchase.
“Our mission is to provide a choice for folks to have an extremely environmentally friendly natural burial over other alternatives,” Johnson said. “The legacy of this decision is leveraged by saving land, putting it under conservation forever and managing it as an ecosystem.”
Morgan Mulé, a UF biology student said she believes preserving untouched land is crucial to the planet’s sustainability.
The 20-year-old said she is looking forward to seeing what the new plot has to offer.
“Any new place to go out and walk on trails and see nature is always fun,” Mulé said. “There are a lot of cool places around here to do that and it’s great that they are expanding this one.”
