For an example of how local government can be both forward-looking and frugal, one can look at Vicksburg’s Cedar Hill Cemetery, one of the most reverent, beautiful and peaceful places in the region.

The 100-acre burial ground at the northern reach of Mission 66 has been expanded many times since it was officially created in 1837 when Vicksburg was only 12 years old. The cemetery has been with the city through epidemics and wars. It is a place of true equality. Markers and monuments vary in size and adornments, but Cedar Hill has always been a place for the city’s black and white, rich and poor, old and, sadly, young to enter eternal rest.

Eleven years ago, as it became increasingly apparent grave spaces were becoming scarce, city officials purchased an additional 30 acres to the west, the only direction the cemetery could grow.

Let’s be clear: The terrain of the 30 acres was not suitable. It was undeveloped hills and gullies covered with trees and vines. A conservative estimate was that a contractor would charge millions to level or terrace the tract and design appropriate drainage.

Instead, city officials gave Walter Bliss, now retired as city street superintendent, the challenge of working in the area periodically, as time permitted, with city crews and equipment. Bliss came up with a system of grading and weirs to allow the land to reform naturally. And the completion of the project will coincide with the sale of the last available Cedar Hill plots.

This is a case where a local government, through a succession of administrations, has achieved a desired result in a timely way and at a far lower expense than might have been incurred. The additional 30 acres should serve Vicksburg’s need for new grave spaces through the rest of this century. How the expansion was undertaken should be instructional, too.