Big Bog State Recreation Area
Encyclopedia
Big Bog State Recreation Area, a recent addition to the Minnesota state park system, is located on Minnesota State Highway 72
, north of Waskish, Minnesota
. It covers 9,459 acres (38.3 km²), primarily swamps, bogs, and upland "islands".
The park was started by local grassroots efforts in 2002, it became a state recreation area and officially opened in June 2006. Common trees include tamarack, tag alder, cedar
, diamond willow
, black
and white spruce
, jackpine, and ash
and black ash with paper birch
, "popple" or quaking aspen, white
and red pine
s in the uplands. There are numerous rare plants, including carnivorous
sundew
s and pitcher plants. Animals include bald eagle
s, wolves
, black bear
s, white-tailed deer
, and moose
.
The "Big Bog" is composed mostly of wetland
s and is larger than the state of Rhode Island
. The name had shown up previously in maps, such as by the National Geographic Society
. The greater Big Bog region stretches from jackpine forests north of Upper Red Lake in Beltrami County, Minnesota
and Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota
to the communities along U.S. Route 71
leading to International Falls
(Mizpah
, Margie
, Indus
, and Littlefork
) in Koochiching County, Minnesota
. It is also almost entirely unpopulated, except for the town of Waskish along Highway 72.
, formed during the last ice age. This former lake bottom is quite flat, with occasional hills of gravel deposits or rock. As the lake drained, this area slowly filled in with wetland plants and animals. The Ojibwe Indian tribe gathered blueberries, fished, and hunted game here until the late 19th century. In the 1920s and 1930s virtually all areas in the vicinity had their majestic old growth pine trees cut down as a massive logging effort swept through, but because of the swampy nature and lack of large stands of mature pines, the Big Bog area was relatively untouched. (Also see the Lost Forty in the Chippewa National Forest
). Some efforts have been made to drain portions or harvest the peat
, but met with little success. Scattered communities of mixed farming were relocated from some of the more remote areas during rural reform as part of the Rural Electrification Act
during the 1930s and 1940s. The fishing-dependent community suffered after a disastrous fall in walleyed pike or walleye
(Sander vitreus) population in both basins of Upper and Lower Red Lakes during the 1990s. In 2002 members of the Upper Red Lake Area Association pushed the idea of a new state park, soon after nearly 10,000 acres (40 km²) were classified as the Big Bog State Recreation Area.
under the Historic Sites Act
. It received this designation in May 1975 from the United States Secretary of the Interior
, giving it recognition as an outstanding example of the nation's natural history. The designation describes it as
Minnesota State Highway 72
Minnesota State Highway 72 is a highway in northwest Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with U.S. 71 in Blackduck and continues north to its northern terminus at the Canadian border in Baudette...
, north of Waskish, Minnesota
Waskish Township, Minnesota
Waskish Township is a township in Beltrami County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 116 as of the 2000 census, primarily in the community of Waskish...
. It covers 9,459 acres (38.3 km²), primarily swamps, bogs, and upland "islands".
The park was started by local grassroots efforts in 2002, it became a state recreation area and officially opened in June 2006. Common trees include tamarack, tag alder, cedar
Thuja occidentalis
Thuja occidentalis is an evergreen coniferous tree, in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is widely cultivated for use as an ornamental plant known as American Arbor Vitae. The endemic occurrence of this species is a northeastern distribution in North America...
, diamond willow
Diamond willow
Diamond willow is willow with wood that is deformed into diamond-shaped segments with alternating colors. This is most likely the result of attack by a fungus , which causes cankers to form in the wood in response to the infection...
, black
Black Spruce
Picea mariana is a species of spruce native to northern North America, from Newfoundland west to Alaska, and south to northern New York, Minnesota and central British Columbia...
and white spruce
White Spruce
Picea glauca is a species of spruce native to boreal forests in the north of North America, from central Alaska east to Newfoundland, and south to northern Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine; there is also an isolated population in the...
, jackpine, and ash
Green Ash
Fraxinus pennsylvanica is a species of ash native to eastern and central North America, from Nova Scotia west to southeastern Alberta and eastern Colorado, south to northern Florida, and southwest to eastern Texas....
and black ash with paper birch
Paper Birch
Betula papyrifera is a species of birch native to northern North America.-Description:...
, "popple" or quaking aspen, white
Eastern White Pine
Pinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine, is a large pine native to eastern North America, occurring from Newfoundland west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to the northern edge of Georgia.It is occasionally known as simply white pine,...
and red pine
Red Pine
Pinus resinosa, commonly known as the red pine or Norway pine, is pine native to North America. The Red Pine occurs from Newfoundland west to Manitoba, and south to Pennsylvania, with several smaller, disjunct populations occurring in the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia and West Virginia, as well...
s in the uplands. There are numerous rare plants, including carnivorous
Carnivorous plant
Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods. Carnivorous plants appear adapted to grow in places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen, such as acidic...
sundew
Sundew
Drosera, commonly known as the sundews, comprise one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginous glands covering their leaf surface. The insects are used to supplement...
s and pitcher plants. Animals include bald eagle
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
s, wolves
Gray Wolf
The gray wolf , also known as the wolf, is the largest extant wild member of the Canidae family...
, black bear
American black bear
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
s, white-tailed deer
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
, and moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
.
The "Big Bog" is composed mostly of wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
s and is larger than the state of Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
. The name had shown up previously in maps, such as by the National Geographic Society
National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society , headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world. Its interests include geography, archaeology and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical...
. The greater Big Bog region stretches from jackpine forests north of Upper Red Lake in Beltrami County, Minnesota
Beltrami County, Minnesota
Beltrami County is a county located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 44,442. Its county seat is Bemidji. Portions of the Leech Lake and Red Lake Indian reservations are in the county. The northernmost portion of the Mississippi River flows...
and Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota
Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota
Lake of the Woods County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 4,045. Its county seat is Baudette. The county contains the Northwest Angle, the northernmost point of the Lower 48 States, and includes the U.S. portion of Lake of the Woods, shared with...
to the communities along U.S. Route 71
U.S. Route 71
U.S. Route 71 is a north–south United States highway. This original 1926 route has remained largely unchanged by encroaching Interstate highways. Currently, the highway's northern terminus is in International Falls, Minnesota at the Canadian border, at the southern end of the Fort...
leading to International Falls
International Falls, Minnesota
International Falls is a city in and the county seat of Koochiching County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 6,424 at the 2010 census....
(Mizpah
Mizpah, Minnesota
Mizpah is a city in Koochiching County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 56 at the 2010 census. The name is the Hebrew word for "watchtower."...
, Margie
Margie, Minnesota
Margie is an unincorporated community in Koochiching County, Minnesota, United States. Margie is located on U.S. Route 71 southwest of Big Falls. Margie has a post office with ZIP code 56658....
, Indus
Indus, Minnesota
Indus is an unincorporated community in Koochiching County, Minnesota, United States.The community is located between International Falls and Baudette on Minnesota State Highway 11.-Further reading:Rand McNally Road Atlas - 2007 edition - Minnesota entry...
, and Littlefork
Littlefork, Minnesota
Littlefork is a city in Koochiching County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 647 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.U.S...
) in Koochiching County, Minnesota
Koochiching County, Minnesota
Koochiching County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 13,311. Its county seat is International Falls. A portion of the Bois Forte Indian Reservation is in the county. A small part of Voyageurs National Park extends into its northeast...
. It is also almost entirely unpopulated, except for the town of Waskish along Highway 72.
History
The Big Bog sits on the southeast side of glacial Lake AgassizLake Agassiz
Lake Agassiz was an immense glacial lake located in the center of North America. Fed by glacial runoff at the end of the last glacial period, its area was larger than all of the modern Great Lakes combined, and it held more water than contained by all lakes in the world today.-Conception:First...
, formed during the last ice age. This former lake bottom is quite flat, with occasional hills of gravel deposits or rock. As the lake drained, this area slowly filled in with wetland plants and animals. The Ojibwe Indian tribe gathered blueberries, fished, and hunted game here until the late 19th century. In the 1920s and 1930s virtually all areas in the vicinity had their majestic old growth pine trees cut down as a massive logging effort swept through, but because of the swampy nature and lack of large stands of mature pines, the Big Bog area was relatively untouched. (Also see the Lost Forty in the Chippewa National Forest
Chippewa National Forest
Chippewa National Forest is a National Forest located in northcentral Minnesota, United States, in the counties of Itasca, Cass, and Beltrami. Forest headquarters are located in Cass Lake, Minnesota. There are local ranger district offices in Blackduck, Deer River, and Walker.-History and...
). Some efforts have been made to drain portions or harvest the peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
, but met with little success. Scattered communities of mixed farming were relocated from some of the more remote areas during rural reform as part of the Rural Electrification Act
Rural Electrification Act
The Rural Electrification Act of 1936 provided federal loans for the installation of electrical distribution systems to serve rural areas of the United States....
during the 1930s and 1940s. The fishing-dependent community suffered after a disastrous fall in walleyed pike or walleye
Walleye
Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...
(Sander vitreus) population in both basins of Upper and Lower Red Lakes during the 1990s. In 2002 members of the Upper Red Lake Area Association pushed the idea of a new state park, soon after nearly 10,000 acres (40 km²) were classified as the Big Bog State Recreation Area.
Bog Walk
A recent addition to the Big Bog State Recreation Area is an artificial bog walk which allows visitors to explore one mile (1.6 km) into the "islands" of spruce within the bog, as well as the open wetlands. The board walk was designed to allow for up to 37% of natural sunlight to fall through it allowing for the delicate bog plants to continue to grow under the walkway.Natural Landmark designation
The area includes the Upper Red Lake Peatland, a National Natural LandmarkNational Natural Landmark
The National Natural Landmark program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only natural areas program of national scope that identifies and recognizes the best examples of biological and geological features in...
under the Historic Sites Act
Historic Sites Act
The Historic Sites Act of 1935 was enacted by the United States Congress largely to organize the myriad federally-own parks, monuments, and historic sites under the National Park Service and the United States Secretary of the Interior...
. It received this designation in May 1975 from the United States Secretary of the Interior
United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
, giving it recognition as an outstanding example of the nation's natural history. The designation describes it as
One of the largest peatlands remaining in the conterminous United States, illustrating a variety of geological features and plant associations, especially the dominant and rare string bog. An outstanding habitat for wildlife including endangered species.
External links
- Big Bog State Recreation Area
- Upper Red Lake Association (led efforts to create the park)