{"id":204791,"date":"2026-03-05T01:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T01:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/204791\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T01:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T01:28:08","slug":"human-composting-on-san-joaquin-river-grows-a-fresno-political-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/204791\/","title":{"rendered":"Human Composting on San Joaquin River Grows a Fresno Political Fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

The use of human remains as compost is at the center of a fight between a state agency and a conservation group tasked with overseeing Sumner Peck Ranch along the San Joaquin River.<\/p>\n

Sharon Weaver, executive director of the trust, says the product is safe and that misperceptions about human composting come from \u201cfear and confusion about death and dying.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesday afternoon, the San Joaquin River Parkway & Conservation Trust \u2014 the \u201ctrust\u201d on future reference \u2014 received a cease-and-desist letter from Fresno County for using human compost at the ranch, which the county says violates state law.<\/p>\n

The letter comes after one from the state agency San Joaquin River Conservancy \u2014 the conservancy on future reference \u2014 to the trust after the conservancy\u2019s executive director saw the compost on the property. The letter states that beyond the use of human composting, the trust has not created a management plan and should not be using compost regardless of the type.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld, who is also a conservancy board member, said in an email to GV Wire that he was \u201cshocked\u201d to find out that human compost was being used.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stupidity is breathtaking. This public land is culturally significant and environmentally sensitive,\u201d Bredefeld said. \u201cI personally will not allow this insanity to be hidden from the public; they have every right to know this is how their tax dollars are being wasted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trust Assured Human Compost Not Regulated by State Law: Weaver<\/p>\n

Sharon Weaver, executive director of the trust, says the product is safe and that misperceptions about human composting come from \u201cfear and confusion about death and dying.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was surprised by the county\u2019s involvement in the issue. She added that she was assured that using human compost does not violate state law.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were assured by our partner that the application of this compost is not regulated by the state of California. There is no regulation that applies to it as far as we know, and that is what we understood when we went into this partnership,\u201d Weaver said.<\/p>\n

She said the compost is not only free, but highly regulated and will help as the nonprofit restores the 76-acre property along the river. She added the conservancy\u2019s objections are its way of trying to control the property after granting the trust money to purchase the property in 2020.<\/p>\n

Weaver said the compost was only used in an open field where they planted wildflowers, not on cropland.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no threat to public health. This is just like any other compost that you might apply in your yard, in your landscape, or some people would apply it to farms,\u201d Weaver said.<\/p>\n

Composting an Alternative to Burial or Cremation<\/p>\n

The environmental benefits of using human compost align with the trust\u2019s mission of restoring the soil at the property along the river, Weaver said.<\/p>\n

Washington-based Earth Funerals<\/a> say human composting has positive environmental impacts compared to traditional burial methods. Rather than opting for a burial or cremation when a person dies, they can go to any one of several different companies that will use bodies in compost.<\/p>\n

Weaver said the company reached out to the conservancy about using the material, which the company often gives to nature preserves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe often have to buy compost for our restoration projects, and in this case, they are giving us the compost, so we thought it was a win-win,\u201d Weaver said.<\/p>\n

Late last year, families of the deceased visited Sumner Peck to see their loved ones\u2019 final resting places.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople were just so excited to know that the compost that was created from their loved one is being used to create something new,\u201d Weaver said.<\/p>\n

Compost Not the First Objection by the Conservancy<\/p>\n

The letter from the conservancy demands that the compost at the site be removed. It states that without having a management plan in place, no compost should be applied.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stupidity is breathtaking. This public land is culturally significant and environmentally sensitive. I personally will not allow this insanity to be hidden from the public; they have every right to know this is how their tax dollars are being wasted.\u201d \u2014 Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld<\/p>\n

However, the trust says that was never part of the agreement. A letter from the trust to the conservancy in response states that the agreement says the trust would \u201ccoordinate and collaborate,\u201d but that board approval is not a prerequisite to operations.<\/p>\n

Weaver said that the complaint is part of a broader tactic by the conservancy to control the property. One of the conditions of the grant to the trust was that the farming operation would end by Dec. 30, 2025.<\/p>\n

Though the orchards will be pulled at the end of this season, Weaver said the conservancy has been heavily involved in the grant process to make meeting those deadlines possible. The conservancy has not provided money for operations and getting funding takes time, Weaver said.<\/p>\n

Last summer, ahead of the deadline, the conservancy sent a different letter saying the restoration process wasn\u2019t happening fast enough.<\/p>\n

Last summer, the conservancy sent a different letter saying the restoration process wasn\u2019t happening fast enough.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve now received more funding for restoration, after a lengthy application process that she says the conservancy was a part of.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was really alarming to us and confusing because we have been applying for grants to do the restoration work for over a year and they knew that. They have been part of the planning process,\u201d Weaver said.<\/p>\n

Read the letters below:<\/p>\n

Fresno County\u2019s Letter to the San Joaquin River Trust<\/p>\n

The Conservancy\u2019s Letter to the Trust<\/p>\n

The Trust\u2019s Letter to the Conservancy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The use of human remains as compost is at the center of a fight between a state agency…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[93,112,114,113],"class_list":["post-204791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-featured","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}