It’s oversimplistic to blame it on vandalism, the conditions found in any of the cemeteries at Zion Hill.

Those cute groundhogs? They are a menace. Some of the toppled gravestones are because of their tunneling. Their holes might look shallow, but they can be a sign of complex burrow systems. The critters can dig deep; let’s not think too hard on what that can mean in terms of a graveyard’s contents.

But, they do not wreak this much havoc on all the cemeteries throughout Hartford. Look at the much larger Cedar Hill Cemetery, for instance. There are some signs of woodchucks there, yet they do not rule the place. One reason is likely the presence of coyotes, but another is simply having solid management of the grounds.

We can’t just blame the groundhogs.

People litter. The messes are left by a few regular visitors who tend to gravitate to the same areas daily, so one would think this would be easier to clean up knowing where to generally expect the trash to accumulate.

One way to mitigate this is simply by having more presence in the cemetery. Why is maintenance so sporadic? Why isn’t there more regular visitation by the loved ones of those buried here? Why aren’t more people using this as a place for quiet walks?

Another way to address this is by placing a trash barrel by the entrance driveways. It takes away an excuse for littering and it takes less time to empty a trash barrel than to pick up scattered garbage.

If the Department of Public Works, for their park and cemetery budget, had even half of what we budget for the police, we could feel confident that all of our green spaces would be given the care they deserve.

Because of staffing, our current norm is that at any given time one park or cemetery will look cared for, and the others will be in some other state. On a recent visit to Zion Hill Cemetery I watched as the worker finished mowing, but left grass covering many grave markers, left the litter untouched, and left a mattress sitting in the middle of the cemetery. The basics are not being done.

Even with better, more frequent maintenance, there are bound to be problems from time-to-time. You can report issues to 311 and expect to have them corrected if they are on City of Hartford property.

Here’s where it gets tricky. A portion of Zion Hill is City-owned. The next largest section is operated by Congregation Beth Israel. Then, there are a bunch of smaller cemeteries. A sign by the cemetery entrance now demystifies, to an extent, who owns what; however, it does not explain who to notify if you see an issue, and most people are not going to have the time or patience to navigate what seems like a complex and confusing system.

In a place as complicated as Zion Hill Cemetery, why not include on the informational sign by entrance a list of numbers or email addresses a person can contact to report issues for each section? Or else, we should expect that when visitors use 311 to note issues, the City of Hartford will follow up by passing that complaint along to the respective organization and communicate that this has occurred.

The current conditions are not inevitable. For guidance, look to how other cemeteries are maintained.

The respect we show for the dead is an extension of the respect we show for the living, and I have to say, Frog Hollow deserves better.