Anchorage transfers Heritage Land Bank parcel for natural burial cemetery

The Anchorage Assembly voted 11-1 Tuesday to transfer a 9.6-acre Heritage Land Bank parcel to Alaska Natural Burial, a nonprofit planning Anchorage's first natural burial cemetery on Goldenview Drive across from Moen Park. The site is projected to provide about 2,800 grave plots at $5,000 each.

Assembly member Keith McCormick cast the lone dissenting vote, objecting to conveying the land at no cost rather than selling it. McCormick's concern was structural: at 2,800 plots and $5,000 per plot, the nonprofit could generate roughly $14 million in plot revenue from land the municipality is giving away free.

While Alaska Natural Burial's nonprofit status means surplus revenue can't be distributed to shareholders, the organization will operate as a revenue-generating business with paid staff and ongoing operations to fund. McCormick argued the city should have considered selling the land — or used a structure that returned some value to the municipality — rather than a no-cost conveyance.

Assembly member Zac Johnson framed the supporting argument: "There are very few options in Anchorage these days other than if you have access to one of those privately reserved spots of the cemetery."

Anchorage Memorial Park has reached capacity, and a 2024 cemetery bond failed, leaving no publicly funded path forward. The Heritage Land Bank had determined the parcel unsuitable for residential development due to steep terrain and high development costs. The ordinance includes conditions and deed restrictions intended to keep the site forested and limit future change of use.

Natural burial allows bodies to decompose without embalming, vaults, or caskets.