Green cemetery case ending up in Federal Court

October 30, 2025/Business, Cemetery, Regulations/

According to Gemini AI, “(the number of) articles can indicate short-term reactions, they can also foretell longer-term trends by reflecting shifts in public and business attention and sentiment”. And, if you read the number of articles that I do while researching for Funeral Director Daily, you would probably believe, as I do, that there is great interest in the subject of “green or natural burials”.

However, like anything new and somewhat different, there seems to be a great deal of caution from governmental organizations in granting permissions for green or natural cemeteries.

That preamble brings us to the case of Matt Connell and his 20-acre parcel located about 25 miles southwest of Duluth, Minnesota, in Minnesota’s Carlton County. According to Connell, and from information in this article, it appears that Connell bought his acreage with, what he claims “was (already) zoned to allow for a private cemetery, without the need to acquire a conditional use permit.”

Turns out that now we are over two years later and Connell has survived a 2-year moratorium from the Minnesota legislature on Minnesota natural cemeteries and now another moratorium on an approval process, expected to last at least one year put in place by Carlton County officials.

According to the same linked article as above, “(Connell) and his business partner filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing Carlton County officials of illegally blocking his project on land zoned to allow for private cemeteries. He also alleges that the county is violating his constitutional and religious rights.”

Carlton County in response filed a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed and those arguments were heard on Wednesday, October 22, in Federal Court. A decision on that motion is expected in 60 to 90 days.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily: The eventual decision in this case may give some clarity about green cemeteries vs. traditional cemeteries and the associated factors about public health, environmental concerns, and the public acceptance of things that are new and different in the greater Death Care world.

According to an expert quoted in the article, there is no cemetery specifically devoted to the green or natural burial method as of this time in Minnesota. According to that same expert, there are green or natural burials in Minnesota but they have taken place in areas of traditional cemeteries.

From my point of view, I don’t know if green or natural cemeteries will become mainstream or continue as a niche business in the greater Death Care universe, however, there seems to be plenty of interest in them and it will be interesting to see where this disagreement ends up.

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