{"id":844,"date":"2007-03-30T16:46:00","date_gmt":"2007-03-30T16:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=844"},"modified":"2007-03-30T16:46:00","modified_gmt":"2007-03-30T16:46:00","slug":"cremation-public-lands-and-commerce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=844","title":{"rendered":"Cremation, public lands, and commerce"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LadiesLadies in White, three women in Missoula, Montana, tried to start a business scattering human ashes–what the funeral industry calls “cremains”–on national forest land<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Forest Service doesn’t like the idea, because they see a “slippery slope” towards permanent monuments:<\/p>\n

But the Forest Service has long had a firm policy against commercial scattering, said Gordon Schofield, the group leader for land use here in Region I. If ashes are scattered \u201cthe land takes on a sacredness, and people want to put up a marker or a plaque.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

The Ladies in White say their practice is environmentally benign, although they do accept that like other public-lands commercial users (guide services, for instance), they need a permit.<\/p>\n

Currently, the official position on private scattering is “don’t ask, don’t tell.” (Some of us writers do tell, however<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

What a wonderful tangle of American religious issues: “nature religion” in the broadest sense, the change in funerary practices, representatives of some Indian tribe sticking their oar in, the organized environmentalists, and the bureaucrats in the middle of it all.<\/p>\n

Take a look at Catherine Goodman, the woman on the left. What is that on her head–antlers? a crescent crown?<\/p>\n

Via Ann Althouse’s blog<\/a>, where there are lots of comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ladies in White, three women in Missoula, Montana, tried to start a business scattering human ashes–what the funeral industry calls “cremains”–on national forest land. The U.S. Forest Service doesn’t like the idea, because they see a “slippery slope” towards permanent monuments: But the Forest Service has long had a firm policy against commercial scattering, said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[10,48],"class_list":["post-844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-american-religion","tag-nature-religion"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-dC","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6209,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=6209","url_meta":{"origin":844,"position":0},"title":"Trees, Animism, and Yuletide","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"January 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I wanted to use the photo of the dumped Christmas tree with two different posts. Then I decided to combine them, so keep reading. 1. \"Trees\" is the theme of this month's Animist Blog Carnival, hosted by Australian blogger Jay at naturebum. Tree totems, forest fires, Indo-European cosmology, and more!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"animism\"","block_context":{"text":"animism","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=animism"},"img":{"alt_text":"Christmas tree discarded on public land in southern Colorado. (Photo: Royal Gorge Field Office, Bureau of Land Management)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/discardedXmastree1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/discardedXmastree1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/discardedXmastree1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":469,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=469","url_meta":{"origin":844,"position":1},"title":"Back on trackM. and I\u2026","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"July 15, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Back on trackM. and I have been home for three days, and life is beginning to settle down. It will be a long time before we forget the 3 a.m. evacuation and the drive into the dark mountains, not knowing if we would see our little house in the woods\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9706,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=9706","url_meta":{"origin":844,"position":2},"title":"Pagans on the Fringe of the AAR","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"August 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Once again, I will be seeking an alternate activity to attending the American Academy of Religion's presidential address in Denver next November. Such activities will probably involve bars, restaurants, and friends whom I see far too infrequently. I might be tempted if Dr. Gushee's \"performing religion\" actually\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"academia\"","block_context":{"text":"academia","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=academia"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/plenary.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/plenary.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/plenary.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3034,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=3034","url_meta":{"origin":844,"position":3},"title":"Making Retrograde Mercury Your Friend","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"August 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been reading Diana Rajchel's \"Mercury Retrograde Boot Camp Series\" (this is no. 9). Some good stuff there. For this, the practical and metaphysical reason is the same: You clear your path from things that were scattering your attention. Now, the things that need your attention get it faster. That\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"astrology\"","block_context":{"text":"astrology","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=astrology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4530,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=4530","url_meta":{"origin":844,"position":4},"title":"From a Hereditary Tradition","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"August 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I come from a hereditary tradition \u2014 of mushroom hunters. I remember my father the forest ranger taking me out when I was ten or eleven to look for them. It was usually raining, and I did not understand what he was seeing, but the activity was somehow important. And\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"mushrooms\"","block_context":{"text":"mushrooms","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=mushrooms"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/mushroomjar.jpg-300x261.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7368,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=7368","url_meta":{"origin":844,"position":5},"title":"Lammas, Wild Harvest, and “the Notch”","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"August 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Many of the Pagan bloggers are putting up their \"Happy Lammas\/Lughnasad\" posts. My archaeoastronomical friends who study mysterious ancient solar alignments point out that \"real\" Lammas is still six days away. But there is \"the notch.\" In 1986, when I moved to this part of Colorado, a friend told me,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Colorado\"","block_context":{"text":"Colorado","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=colorado"},"img":{"alt_text":"nibbled bolete","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/nibbled-bolete.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/nibbled-bolete.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/nibbled-bolete.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}