Living and Dying in Regeneration Sacred Grove Preserve | New Year 2026

As we enter 2026, we find ourselves living in a moment of profound transition.

The world around us feels unstable in ways that are no longer theoretical. Ecological systems are strained. Social systems are fragmenting. Many of the structures we were told would hold are showing their limits. And alongside this unraveling, something quieter but more important is happening: people are beginning to ask deeper questions about how we live, how we die, and what it means to belong to the Earth again.

Sacred Grove was born from those questions.

At its heart, Sacred Grove is not only a place of burial. It is a living landscape shaped by the understanding that life and death are not opposites, but partners in regeneration. In nature, nothing is wasted. Death feeds life. Decay builds soil. Loss becomes transformation. Forests regenerate not despite death, but because of it.

Modern culture has worked very hard to separate us from this truth. We hide death. We sterilize it. We treat it as failure instead of completion. In doing so, we lose our relationship with the cycles that sustain all living systems.

Green burial restores that relationship.

When a body is returned directly to the Earth, it becomes nourishment. It feeds microorganisms, fungi, plants, trees, and soil life. It participates in the rebuilding of ecosystems rather than extracting from them. It allows death to fulfill its ecological role with dignity and meaning.

But regeneration is not only biological. It is cultural and spiritual as well.

Sacred Grove exists as a sanctuary for grief, remembrance, and reconnection. It is a place where families can gather, walk, reflect, and feel held by living systems that continue long after a single lifetime. It is an arboretum, a conservation preserve, and a space for education — but most importantly, it is a reminder that we are not separate from the land beneath our feet.

In 2026, our work expands outward.

This coming year marks a deepening of our commitment through the expansion of Land Restoration Solutions (LRS) — a framework developed to explore how regenerative burial, afforestation, and long-term land stewardship can serve as practical tools for ecological repair.

LRS examines the broader implications of what Sacred Grove represents: that land can be restored rather than depleted, that stewardship can replace extraction, and that death itself can play a meaningful role in healing degraded systems. This work looks beyond a single site to ask how similar models might support soil health, biodiversity, water systems, and community resilience over time.

Sacred Grove serves as a living case study within this larger effort — a place where theory is tested through practice, and where regeneration is measured not only in acres restored, but in relationships rebuilt between people and the land.

As we move into the coming year, Sacred Grove will continue to grow in careful, intentional ways:

• Expanding tree and native plant restoration

• Developing educational offerings around green burial and land stewardship

• Creating spaces for quiet reflection, ceremony, and remembrance

• Strengthening our role as a conservation and biodiversity preserve

• Contributing to the research and applied work emerging through Land Restoration Solutions

We do not believe regeneration is about returning to the past. It is about building forward in alignment with living systems. A regenerative future asks us to participate consciously in cycles of life, death, and renewal — not as something to fear, but as something to honor.

In a time of uncertainty, Sacred Grove stands as a living answer to a simple truth:When we care for the dead with intention, we also care for the future of the living.

Thank you for being part of this growing community.May the year ahead bring clarity, courage, and deeper connection.

With gratitude,

Arlette O’RourkeFounder, Sacred Grove Preserve