SUGAR CREEK TWP.: Later this month, a 43-acre tract operated by the Wilderness Center will become Ohio's first nature-preserve cemetery featuring only natural burial for the deceased.

That means at Foxfield Preserve, there will be no embalming, no steel caskets, no concrete vaults. People will be buried in biodegradable containers such as wooden or cardboard caskets, blankets or shrouds.

There will up to 200 burials per acre, not the thousand that might be found in a modern cemetery.

Simple grave markers of native stone will be acceptable; gaudy monuments and mausoleums will not. There will be no rows of headstones.

At Foxfield Preserve, there won't be a manicured lawn-type cemetery. Nature will dominate. The property is being turned from old farmland into prairie and forest, with views of the surrounding Sugar Creek Valley in southwestern Stark County. Two nature trails are planned.

The planting of native trees and wildflowers will be permitted at graves. Baskets of flowers, flags and other decorations will be allowed only at burial time and must be removed afterward.

Cremated ashes also will be accepted, if they are in biodegradable containers.

Foxfield Preserve is designed to offer an economical, environmentally friendly alternative to modern burial, while helping to improve wildlife habitat and keep runoff from polluting streams.

It will be the only nature preserve cemetery in the United States operated by a nonprofit conservation center and one of only a handful of such facilities in the country, said Gordon Maupin, executive director of the Wilderness Center.

There are big differences between
modern cemeteries and what the Wilderness Center intends to do, Maupin said.

He has been interested in such cemeteries since he first heard of a similar operation in South Carolina eight years ago.

''It's been a long journey,'' he said of starting such an operation.

Maupin had major discussions about the cemetery with his 40-member board of trustees. Some supported the idea; others had misgivings. A few felt such an operation was too far from the center's mission. But the board gave its blessing a year ago.

The Wilderness Center has invested $250,000, not including land acquisition, to begin the preserve.

The 43 acres off Foxfield Street Southwest, about 1.2 miles from the center's Interpretive Building, had been purchased earlier. The site borders Secrest Woods, an old-growth forest at the Wilderness Center, and Amish farms.

A paved lane for vehicles is being constructed. The preserve will be surveyed in coming weeks to pin down future burial sites.

Maupin isn't sure what kind of response Foxfield Preserve will get.

''I'm more than a little nervous,'' he said. ''We have no idea what to expect. But we are confident that this will work . . . and that this is the right way and best way to go.''

Foxfield Preserve steward Jennifer Quinn said that nearly 50 people have expressed a serious interest in the nature cemetery.

Natural burials are sometimes called green burials. The unembalmed bodies can still be displayed in open caskets at funeral homes if they're kept cool with refrigeration or dry ice.

Foxfield Preserve suggests that the bodies be dressed in natural fibers, like cotton or wool.

The plots at Foxfield are 10 feet by 20 feet and cost $3,200 in advance or $4,000 at the time of death. But Maupin pointed out that families can save money by eliminating embalming, the metal casket and the concrete vault.

Foxfield Preserve will not provide funeral services, but will work with families and funeral directors.

Setting up such a facility seems like a natural evolution for the Wilderness Center, Maupin said.

With 3,200 members and 80,000 visitors a year, it started as a nature center and added a land trust. The center is conserving wetlands and owns or has easements on 2,922 acres in five counties. It runs a consulting forestry business to help local landowners.

The income from Foxfield Preserve will help fund the Wilderness Center's land acquisition, endowment and education programs, Maupin said.

''This will be a nature preserve first,'' he said. ''We have to remind ourselves of that sometimes. . . . It's about life. It's about giving back to Planet Earth. . . . We just don't see a downside to this.''

For information, contact Quinn at 330-763-1331 or check http://www.foxfieldpreserve.org. The Wilderness Center will hold a preserve open house at 2 p.m. July 26. Wearing hiking boots is advised.