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Green Burial at Willow-Witt Ranch - Conservation, Restoration, Education since 1985

Our Team

Suzanne Willow and Lanita Witt, owners of The Forest Conservation Burial Ground

Suzanne Willow & Lanita Witt

Owners

Owners Suzanne Willow and Lanita Witt are dedicated to the conservation of a 445-acre gem located at 5,000’ elevation within southern Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument near Ashland. Since 1985, they have focused on restoring balanced working forests and wetlands, and improving wildlife habitat. The owners are committed to land conservation, restoration, and regenerative organic agriculture.

To carry this commitment forward in perpetuity, they established The Forest Conservation Burial Ground as an extension of stewardship beyond their lifetimes.

Joanne Kliejunas, Advisor to The Forest Natural Burial Ground

Joanne Kliejunas

Advisor

Joanne Kliejunas joined our small team in 2019 as a volunteer eager to help us make natural burial an option in our community. Joanne has taught classes in the Ashland area to encourage end-of-life decision making by completing an advance directive and to prompt reflection and conversations with loved ones about life, death and their connectedness. As a textile artist, she encourages our clients to select shrouds repurposed from natural textiles that have been meaningful in their lives. She has also salvaged beautiful vintage table and bed linens and prepared them as shrouds for purchase from The Forest. Joanne’s professional experience as a non-profit manager has contributed to The Forest’s development and planning, as well as outreach in our community.

Bethany Rose Williams

Bethany Williams

Cemetery Manager

Bethany is a multimedia artist and grief clown. She believes that the good work of changing the world cannot accomplished from a critical distance, but must be taken up with presence, care, and response-ability in our most intimate everyday engagements.

Bethany holds an MA in Environmental Literatures from UC Davis. She’s done marketing and events for big tech, labored on small farms, renovated vintage Airstreams, and designed Portland’s favorite dive bar.

Jake Hansen

Jake Hansen

Assistant Cemetery Manager

Jake Hansen joined our team this fall as Assistant Cemetery Manager and we’re delighted to have him. Jake grew up in Ashland and has spent most of his life in the forests, mountains, and rivers of Southern Oregon. After graduating from Ashland High School, he spent time traveling in India and Central America before obtaining his B.S. in Psychology from Metropolitan State University of Denver. He returned to Ashland this year to attend graduate school.

Larry Lacerte

Larry Lacerte

Operations Manager

Larry Lacerte moved to Oregon from Colorado. He was drawn to working at Willow-Witt Ranch by a desire to learn more about off-grid living, working with animals and market gardening. He enjoys hiking, biking, skiing and making music.

Christine Yee, Administrative and Operations Assistant

Esther Petrocine

Farm Hand

Esther has a diverse background as a woman of many trades. She feels most in alignment with the flow of life when connected to the cycles of life, death, and transformation. She is a mother of two young children, shepherd of hair sheep and goats, and a farmhand at Willow-Witt ranch. She is passionate about growing food and raising animals in a way that mimics nature’s intelligence and believes that observation is an important skill in helping humans feel connected to life on earth, each other, and ourselves. 

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Green Burial Council certified member
The Forest Conservation Burial Ground is certified by the Green Burial Council