Tesdahl is seeking donations for materials. Try and do so, and chunks break off like Jello. The 3-acre piece of wetland has destroyed docks while bouncing around the lake near Brainerd. The bog broke off the shoreline in October in Merrifield Bay on North Long Lake just outside of Brainerd. The bog came to rest on the beach of an American Legion camp. “They seem like something that can’t exist, but they’re really all over,” says Chet Van Duzer, who wrote a 400-page bibliography on floating islands. To learn more or withdraw consent, please visit our cookie policy. Eight months after a monster bog moved across North Long Lake near Brainerd, officials have been successful in moving part of it back to its original resting spot. The camp, owned by the American Legion, trains children as volunteer crossing guards and helps them master other road safety skills, like exiting overturned school buses. North Long Lake Information: Crow Wing County Watershed: Crow Wing Surface Water Area: 5,998 Acres Shorelength: 19.3 Miles Maximum depth: 97 ft. Whether they can move a bog remains to be seen. Floating islands have fascinated human beings for thousands of years. It destroyed their dock and boat lifts and they wanted to know what to do about it.”, At the whim of wind and wave, the bog meandered for weeks within a kidney-shaped bay at the north end of the lake, an area just over one square mile. The floating bog became a problem when it broke away from its shoreline in October 2017 in Merrifield Bay on North Long Lake, north of Brainerd. “So they’re going to have to move it, [or] they’re gonna get sued.”, Meanwhile, other residents directed their ire towards the Department of Natural Resources. It’s the size of three football fields. He was out of town when he got the call. Weighing 1,000 tons bog is roaming the waters of the 6,000-acre lake, smashing a dock and boat lifts in its path. The North Long Lake bog became detached in August 2017, Schmidt said, when heavy rainfall fed into to a creek that then fed into the lake. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. The North Long Lake bog began its journey at a summer camp called Legionville. Then, one blustery October morning, it broke loose. Atlas Obscura and our trusted partners use technology such as cookies on our website to personalise ads, support social media features, and analyse our traffic. “They’re never this big,” he says. Each cabin has a deck with lawn chairs, flat-screen TV, a VCR or … The wild beast of North Long Lake … “It’s kind of the wild beast of North Long Lake right now.” A floating bog – the size of three football fields – broke off from shoreline late last week and started wandering. A bog, he’s since learned, can be pretty bad. “Just the fact it's moving is really exciting,” Johnson said. Randy Tesdahl heads the American Legion in Minnesota. For now it is harmless, frozen in place. In spring, fish the reedy flats of the two bays. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. LEGIONVILLE--Another piece of the puzzle that is the North Long Lake bog has been moved. Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings. People have grazed cattle on them, fished through them, farmed on them, even created religious ceremonies around them. We’re fine with it being wherever it ends up.”. The heavy influx of water, coupled with strong winds, lifted the bog from its roots and out into open water. Eventually, the team hopes, the bog will root itself once more and reattach to the shoreline. “It was not attached to shore so there would not be any reason to seek permission,” he says. So Tesdahl and others are building a “necklace” out of logs and chains. A floating bog on North Long Lake, north of Brainerd, is scheduled to be moved from where it came to rest. Legionville Safety Camp relies on the beach. But early estimates were beyond either organization’s means. Game species that can be found here include deer, bear and possib… We want them to have their beach,” Martini said. To move a bog, one needs to get a grip on it. A giant bog started floating around North Long Lake in Merrifield last fall, leaving a trail of destroyed docks and beaches in its wake. “Just amazing. So the interested parties, led by Tesdahl, decided they would take on the bog themselves. Brainerd Cabins, Park Models & Retreat Home At Sullivans, we have 6 two bedroom housekeeping cabins, 1 three bedroom, and a large Retreat Home. But now, with the center section cut into three pieces and dozen of volunteers, they saw progress. MERRIFIELD, Minn. — The monster bog that broke off the shoreline a few weeks ago in Merrifield Bay on North Long Lake just outside of Brainerd continues to lurk around the … Technically, it’s a floating bog. And they canceled the whole camp. “We just say hey, it’s a public water. The North Long Lake bog began its journey at a summer camp called Legionville. North Long is known as one of the best fishing and recreational lakes in … For the time being, the monstrous floating bog on North Long Lake will remain in place. After it landed at Legionville, the DNR gave the North Long Lake Association a permit to stake it there. Taking advantage of an unusual product placement opportunity, the outboard motor company Evinrude has agreed to donate 20 boats, including a 24-foot barge, to the effort. “I have heard from friends in Mexico that have said, 'What about the bog on your lake?'”. (The wind has since blown it back, right in front of the swimming beach.) Chains will encircle the rootballs of fallen trees, snake across the bog on top of plywood planks, and hang off the end into the water, anchored by massive steel beams. No purchase necessary. Residents living on Merrifield Bay may have seen the bog floating around the lake this past week. The 8-million-pound bog, as long as three football fields, gained worldwide notoriety when it ended up on the shore of Legionville Safety Camp last fall after floating across the lake, taking docks along with it. Floating islands are common in Minnesota; it’s the size of this one that’s causing all the fuss. Minnesota American Legion and other volunteers succeeded Thursday, May 17, 2018, in cutting the giant North Long Lake bog into three sections. Now is the time, officials from both organizations said. In October, the monster ominously made its way over towards the beach and swimming area used by the American Legion of Minnesota's Legionville Safety camp. “‘Everybody do a little bit and we’ll get the thing moved and it will be a feel-good story.’” All three entities now claim a positive working relationship. The bog floated around the bay as the … Disputes over who is responsible for it have challenged the bonds of community in this serene area just north of Brainerd, known for recreational fishing and boating. But they did so without the American Legion’s permission. Sunday’s goal was clearing the section in front of the beach, but they’ll likely work on the other sections later on. “I deal with floating bog permits every year,” says Kevin Martini, an aquatic plant management specialist for the agency. Why Is This Lake in Australia Bright Pink? Sue Galatowitsch, a wetland ecologist at the University of Minnesota, says the island likely weighs at least 1,000 tons and could extend 30 feet below the water. Winner will be selected at random on 02/01/2021. The plan to move a huge floating bog on North Long Lake near Brainerd, Minn., seemed a little far fetched to succeed but you have to admire the spunk of the area.. Residents complained to their legislators that issuing permits wasn’t enough—that the DNR should get out there and move the bogs. A natural assemblage of peat moss festooned with cattails and tamarack trees, the bog is more than four acres across—that’s about 64 tennis courts. Minnesota residents regularly ask the state Department of Natural Resources for permission to move floating bogs away from their homes and stake them down elsewhere. How bad can it be?’”. The North Long Lake bog became detached in August 2017, Schmidt said, when heavy rainfall fed into to a creek that then fed into the lake. “Where they’re best developed, you’ve got 5,000 years of sphagnum peat accumulation,” Galatowitsch says. Victory is within reach for the residents of Crow Wing County, who are tired of the four-acre behemoth. The Lake Association planted wooden stakes, made of 10-foot-long two-by-fours, on three sides of the bog to keep it from heading back out into the lake. Heedless of property lines and proper decorum, it caromed around the lake for about three weeks before coming to rest, leaving behind crumpled docks and mangled boat lifts. Inch by inch, the slow slaying of the North Long Lake monster bog is underway. But the residents of Crow Wing County, Minnesota have had about enough of their floating island. A bog the size of a professional baseball field is on the move in North Long Lake. The camp, owned by the American Legion, trains children as volunteer crossing guards and helps them master other road safety skills, like exiting overturned school buses. An aerial view of the bog, before its dismemberment. This bog, weighing 8 million pounds, had been nicknamed “The Beast.” BRAINERD, Minn. - Crews are attempting to move a giant bog that broke loose last fall, wreaking havoc on North Long Lake. Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. For years, the bog bobbed inoffensively next to an unused stretch of lakeshore there. North Long Lake is a 5,998 acre lake, with a sandy shoreline encompassing 19.8 miles (7 miles long). After almost a month of fruitless effort, there was finally some progress made on shifting the monster bog that is blighting the North Long Lake shoreline. The bog broke off the shoreline in October in Merrifield Bay on North Long Lake just outside of Brainerd. Offer available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). The only stuff that’s alive is the three or four inches at the top.” They expand outward from peat shelves that form along the shoreline. And with the bog so close to shore, they decided it just wasn't safe. The American Legion in Minnesota has 73,000 members. It jiggles like a waterbed when you walk on it, and falling through is a danger. Watch Our Annual Meeting Video on July 18th Subscribe To Our Email Updates 2020 Annual Meeting. Early Wednesday morning, volunteers got started with their plan to move the bog using boats and bobcats. They appear in Greek, Native American, and Polynesian mythology, not to mention fantasy novels and dessert menus. MessageToEagle.com – A giant, black wandering bog has suddenly appeared in North Long Lake, Minnesota and no-one knows why. Lake Association president Bill Schmidt says that’s because, at the time, the bog was several hundred feet offshore. Destroying the bog, they learned, would cost as much as half a million dollars. Sign up for our newsletter and enter to win the second edition of our book. The North Long Lake Association and the American Legion agreed to share the cost of dealing with the bog. “You put a bunch of old veterans together, they can move a mountain,” Tesdahl says. “They were complaining that the DNR should take care of this,” Martini says. “And they were sitting there having coffee and it just kept coming. “I said, ‘We gotta turn this into lemonade,’” says Tesdahl. “Most of it’s dead. A floating menace in a lake needs your attention. So the group has devised an elaborate plan to move it, as soon as the lake thaws. A floating bog, they’ve learned, is a slippery adversary. It took 24 small boats and pontoons, plus a bobcat. We depend on ad revenue to craft and curate stories about the world’s hidden wonders. The bog, roughly the size of three football fields, broke free in … It won’t be easy. Bids to move it came in around $100,000. “The wild beast of North Long Lake,” as one person described it to a local TV news crew, broke loose from the shoreline last fall. For years, the bog bobbed inoffensively next to an unused stretch of lakeshore there. See. (Photo courtesy: Kevin Martini), One dead, one in custody after house fire in Le Center, Biden to reverse transgender military ban, Brent Burns scores late, helps San Jose beat Minnesota 5-3, After knee injury, Neu takes on new role with Champlin Park gymnastics, Dominion Voting Systems sues Giuliani over election claims. Courtesy the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources/ Public Domain. BRAINERD, Minn. - Eight months after a monster bog moved across North Long Lake near Brainerd, docking on the beach of Legionville Safety Camp, officials were … Follow us on social media to add even more wonder to your day. Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. Its deepest point is 97 feet. Manpower, however, won’t be a problem. “I mean, this got political,” says Martini. The bog on North Long Lake is blocking access to the Legionville swimming beach. Bill Schmidt, president of the North Long Lake Association, remembers the phone call from a resident at the north end of the lake. The Forum News Service reports volunteer crews were finally able to move some of this giant bog from the Legionville Camp beachfront on North Long Lake Sunday. In most cases, problem bogs are small enough to nudge to a new location with a boat or two. The DNR plans to chain the pieces they moved to shore, to prevent them from floating back to the Legionville beach. “I said ‘Okay, we’ll deal with it in the spring,’” he recalls. Winter deepened and tempers cooled. 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Tesdahl, Schmidt, and Martini talked things over. Atlas Obscura had a page for something called Moose Boulder, until fan Roger Dickey called us on it. The North Long Lake bog began its journey at a summer camp called Legionville. “‘It’s a bog. “They said there was this huge chunk of land floating towards them,” he says. There are currently 571 homes and cabins on the lake including 7 campgrounds or resorts. Some Legionnaires felt otherwise. No-one has ever seen a floating bog this large before. According to Tesdahl, the log necklace will wrap around the bog, allowing tractors equipped with poles to push from the shore and boats in the lake to pull. A giant, breakaway bog dmaged this dock and boat lift on North Long Lake near Brainerd on Friday the 13th. Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. North Long Lake Association. I watched it last fall,” Dave Sapeltan said. “It's really exciting,” said Johnson. The bog broke off the shoreline in October in Merrifield Bay on North Long Lake just outside of Brainerd. The heavy influx of water, coupled with strong winds, lifted the bog from its roots and out into open water. Step Inside the Geometrically Stunning Fingal's Cave, There's an Abandoned Futuristic Fort in Portland, Maine, The Intrepid Mother and Son Who Unraveled a Geographic Hoax. Bog watch on North Long Lake is summer excitement for lake residents like Dave Sapeltan and Bonnie Johnson. “A bog that size,” Galatowitsch says, “can kind of do whatever it wants.”. “That's been our goal all along.