Anchorage Assembly to weigh natural burial cemetery near Potter Marsh

Alaska Natural Burial must satisfy wildlife, funding, and trail conditions before Anchorage transfers a 9.6-acre Hillside parcel for a proposed natural burial cemetery, according to ordinance documents prepared for the Anchorage Assembly.

The parcel, Heritage Land Bank Parcel 2-156 on Golden View Drive, sits across the street from Moen Park and uphill from Potter Marsh Watershed Park. The ordinance requires Alaska Natural Burial to work with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to produce human-wildlife conflict guidelines before the land transfer closes.

At a June 1 work session, a land management officer described the site's setting. "This property is located in South Anchorage on Golden View Drive about 1.25 miles south of the Golden View Middle School," she said. "It is across the street from Moen Park and it is uphill from Potter Marsh Watershed Park. It is approximately 9.6 acres in size and is zoned PLI Public Lands and Institutions. It is currently vacant and used for passive recreation."

Anchorage Parks and Recreation, which manages the surrounding 300-acre Potter Marsh Watershed Community Forest, requested the possibility of shared parking facilities and noted that maintaining and improving the existing trail system would be consistent with conservation and natural resource values. The ordinance requires Alaska Natural Burial to execute an agreement for the Moen Trail easement, which crosses the northern tip of the parcel, to be maintained by Anchorage Parks and Recreation before disposal.

Alaska Natural Burial was the only organization to submit a proposal in response to a June 2024 request for proposals issued by the Heritage Land Bank.

Conservation Standards and Burial Limits

A geotechnical study completed in October 2025 found the site partially usable for natural burials. Of eight test pits dug, five had bedrock deeper than four feet, the minimum preferred for natural burials. Groundwater was detected in two of the eight pits at bedrock level, at 5.5 and 8 feet deep. Areas unsuitable for full-body burial may be used for cremation burials, amenities and infrastructure, and recreational trails.

Alaska Natural Burial has stated its intent to follow the Green Burial Council's Natural Burial Ground Standards and to work toward becoming a Certified Conservation Burial Ground after conveyance. The Green Burial Council's Natural Burial Ground standard caps average burial density at 500 burials per acre. The Conservation Burial Ground standard caps it at 300 burials per acre and requires conservation or restoration of at least five acres contiguous to other protected land.

Supporters of the project argue the cemetery would function as a conservation tool, permanently protecting urban forest adjacent to the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge rather than conflicting with it. Alaska Natural Burial's stated mission is to "provide natural interment services that minimize environmental impact and serve a higher conservation purpose."