September 15th, 2025

April Zee of Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery

This week, we're starting a new series about our members, called the Members Spotlight. We plan to introduce you to some of our cemetery and natural burial ground members and shed some information about who they are and what they've been up to.
Recently, we spoke with April Zee of Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery and asked her the following. Hope you enjoy reading our chat!

- What is your Cemetery's name, and where are you located?
Conservation Burial, Inc. (doing business as "Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery") in Gainesville, Florida.

- Can you give us a quick glimpse into the cemetery's origin story and structure?
Alachua Conservation Trust (ACT), our land trust partner, acquired Prairie Creek Preserve in 2005, which is 606 acres of protected land. In 2007, Freddie Johnson, one of our founders, gathered friends such as Robert Hutchinson, the director of ACT, to create Conservation Burial, Inc (CBI). In 2010, CBI partnered with ACT to have the county grant a conservation easement for a burial ground over 78 of the 606 acres, consisting of mesic hardwood hammock and pine upland meadow ecosystems. CBI now has 108 acres within the preserve, has completed over 1300 burials, and is continually working on expansion.

- What do you do, and how did you come to this work?
I am the Assistant Director at PCCC. I work on the admin side of things, while getting outside as much as I can. I started as an Operations Coordinator and have since transitioned into my current role. I have a bachelor's degree in Forestry, and worked in many research labs studying tree/forest health, nutrient composition in forests, seedlings, and my favorite: prescribed fire. I spent a couple of years after college researching post-fire responses in plants and how we can better use fire as a tool to produce viable seed and a healthier ecosystem for plants and animals. Our land trust partner here at the cemetery is Alachua Conservation Trust, which does amazing and influential conservation work in northern Florida. I came to them looking for a job, they pointed me in the direction of the cemetery, and I never looked back!

- What is a fun/unique fact about your cemetery/organization?
We are the 4th Conservation Cemetery certified by GBC in the United States and the only in Florida (at the moment)!

- What are your favorite/most gratifying aspects of this work?
We have an amazing community of volunteers here at PCCC, now with an on-call list of over 200 individuals! We could not get our work done without them. They help out with digs, burials, landwork, and events. The pure selflessness and joy they bring to the cemetery every day keeps me grounded and inspired.

- How has (or will) the CBA support your cemetery?
With Freddie as the founder of our cemetery and of CBA, we are so grateful to have him in our corner. CBA continues to connect us with other conservation cemeteries, keeping us inspired! I love attending the CBA Operators Meetings and sharing ideas, thoughts, and stories.

Thank you so much, April, for sharing with us and our community. Such a joy!
Photo of PCCC team, contributed by April Zee.