Ali Stevenson, Midcoast Conservancy Fri, 05/07/2021 - 7:15am Midcoast Conservancy and co-sponsor Strong-Hancock Funeral Home will host an online panel discussion of Green Burial and Conservation Cemeteries on Thursday, June 24 from 6 to 8 p.m. Green burial has sparked an interest among land conservation circles in Maine recently. The idea isn’t new — interment without concrete vaults, embalming, or unrecyclable components was the way all burials were conducted until a few generations ago. What is new is that land trusts are thinking of green cemeteries as a way of conserving land in perpetuity for gentle multi-use — trails, habitat, and green space as well as burials. The idea is a win/win: people who treasure conservation and the land ethic may choose green burial as a way of affirming their values in death as in life. At the same time, land trusts are looking for imaginative ways to preserve open space with public access and involve the human community in their mission.