Frequently asked questions

The forest cycle of life and death are interconnected. If your tree dies before any ashes have been spread, we’ll help transfer you to another tree free of charge. If your tree dies after ashes have been spread, your Memorial Marker(s) will remain, marking your special place in the forest ecosystem. We look at each tree on a case-by-case basis, and we seek to be minimally invasive while prioritizing forest health.

By selecting healthy forests and following forest management best practices, our team works to reduce the risk of fire damage and disease. If your tree is affected by a fire or other natural disaster, we’ll follow the same process as if your tree dies.

When you arrive in the forest, you’ll be greeted by a Guide. Your Guide will answer your questions and take you on a walking tour of the forest. Typically tours last between 60–90 minutes.

All of our forests are equipped with accessible restroom facilities and light trail snacks for our visitors. In case of rain, there are umbrellas. In cases of extreme weather, we’ll ask that you reschedule your visit.

Our forest teams also have a motorized vehicle for visitors requiring mobility assistance.

Our process for protecting land begins by identifying and purchasing land with high conservation value. For us, conservation value means land that is in a natural, scenic, historical, agricultural, forested, or open-space condition. Often, the properties we consider are wildlife habitats and may face a threat of development or loss of these values.

Once we have purchased a property, we develop forest management plans and obtain local permits that provide for the preservation, protection, or enhancement of that conservation value. Then, we grant each customer an irrevocable license to access their Memorial Tree, and we record those licenses with local governments.

Finally, we establish Stewardship Trusts to fund the perpetual maintenance of our forests, and we seek conservation easements to permanently protect the land from development. This is a years-long, multi-step approach for each of our forests.

We worked with soil scientists to create a process to safely place ashes in the forest so they won’t harm the forest. This also ensures that, as the bacteria in the soil naturally breaks down bone ashes over time, the ashes become bioavailable to the forest.

The chemical composition of ashes primarily includes phosphate, calcium, and potassium. While large concentrations of these minerals can indeed be harmful to the environment, Better Place Forests’ introduction of ashes mixed with native soil does not cause any significant impacts to the forest ecosystem.