Advocates in northern Michigan are calling for funding for a state-operated veterans cemetery in Crawford County. They say the project would help lower burial costs for military families and make it easier for them to bury their loved ones.
Michigan does not have a state-operated veterans cemetery. Governor Gretchen Whitmer requested five million dollars in funding earlier this year, but whether the request is approved by the legislature remains to be seen.
Efforts to build the cemetery have been underway since the 1970s. The governor requested funding for it in February in her budget proposal. However, the project does not appear in the state Senate's version of the budget for next fiscal year, and the House has not yet shared its version.
Military families buried at state and federally operated cemeteries can receive allowances to cover burial costs.
Currently, according to the Veteran’s Affairs website, burial allowances for non-service-related deaths are up to $978 for burials and another $978 to pay for a plot. Service-connected deaths have a maximum burial allowance of $2,000. Families of veterans are also eligible for burial allowances.
Carey Jansen is a former Crawford County commissioner and long-time advocate for the project.
"Right now, an average burial can be anywhere between $2,500 and $5,000, so that's saving grieving families a ton of money," she said.
Northern Michigan does not currently have any veteran's cemeteries open for new burials. The closest ones are downstate or in northern Wisconsin. "Northern Michigan and Northern lower Michigan are still underserved by this. The closest one to our U-P friends is 500 miles away in Rhinelander, Wisconsin," Jansen said.
The current effort for the Crawford veteran’s cemetery stretches back to 2023. That year, Whitmer signed a bipartisan bill that would have approved funding for the plan, however it was not included in that year’s fiscal budget.
Previous efforts dating back decades have been unfruitful, but Jansen says there’s a local push to get funding across the line.
“It's much needed. There’s no reason people should have to travel 3 hours to bury their loved ones in a cemetery,” she said.
