Destroying the Mother of all Bogs
By C. L. Clausen
A self-described "recovering journalist," C. L. Clausen is a back-to-the-land homesteader, sculptor, and deviser of the Cosmographic Alphabet. During the 70's, he was editor and publisher of Common Sense: A Northwoods Journal. He also served in publishing, editing, reportorial, feature and photojournalist roles in five other publications.
Save Our Bog is a very diverse group of Minnesotans working to protect Big Bog. Big Bog is the largest and last pristine bog in the lower 48 states, a home to diverse and rare plant and animal communities, a primary freshwater aquifer, and headwaters to many Minnesota rivers, lakes, and streams. Most importantly, Big Bog is important to the survival of the Red Lake Nation. Big Bog is an ecosystem worth more in its pristine state than mined for peat.
Up in the North Woods of Minnesota people refer to her simply as the Big Bog. Located some 20 miles east of Upper Red Lake, in the part of the Minnesota Northwoods where all waters flow into Lake Winnipeg and ultimately into the Arctic by way of Hudson's Bay, is the prime aquifer of the state; the Mother of All Bogs, also known as Pine Island Bog.
As the largest defacto Wilderness in the state, Big Bog is located primarily in State Forest and Red Lake Tribal lands. A home to Moose, Timber Wolves, Bald Eagles and Southern Lemming, the Big Bog's near- surface is comprised primarily of sphagnum moss peat. It is this peat, serving as the great natural filtration system for underground waters feeding the wells of countless thousands of people, which has also become the problem.
You see, sphagnum moss peat, has readily realizable economic value. A group of Minnesota politicians and bureaucrats, together with the Army Corps of Engineers, a research institute connected with the University of Minnesota - Duluth, and a certain little globalist corporation - Berger Ltd., of Quebec, got together and made themselves a deal. Berger is the prime peat soil vendor to Scotts Lawn Products and other corporate dispensers.
Under the aegis of maybe two dozen poverty-wage jobs of around eight bucks an hour, local politicians from the Koochiching County Board happily signed in support, as did area State Representative Irv Anderson and Minnesota Eighth District Congressman James Oberstar. The politicians, particularly the Congressman, began to swing their weight. Before long there were the requisite reviews, sign-offs, public notifications, and even a now much-questioned Environmental Impact Statement.
In all good political scandals, there must be at least one mystery at its heart. The mysterious equation is a letter purportedly signed by the late Tribal Chairman of the Red Lake Nation of Ojibwe, "Butch" Brun. Brun is accredited with signing off for the Red Lake people, on behalf of the Tribal Council. Owning part of the bog, scheduled to be strip-mined for its peat resources, the Red Lake Nation is a major equation in this struggle.
In the Spring of 2005, glacially arising after all the political dirtywork had already taken place, there sprang up a gathering of concerned individuals from several counties of the Minnesota Northwoods who formed an organization named Save Our Bog. We promptly began a campaign of letter-writing, e-mailing, leafletting, and getting the message out.
Curiously, there had been very little media coverage of this corporate grab. The only media exception were a few articles in the Duluth News Tribune, almost 200 miles from Big Bog. On becoming informed of the issue through letters to the editor, one-on-one conversations, and our leaflets, Minnesota northwoodsers are shocked about the rip-off of the bog and concerned for the future of their water supply.
Some believe that much of the politics surrounding the sellout of Big Bog may belong to the global corporate takeover of water supplies, particularly in South American and Asian countries deep in hock to the World Bank or International Monetary Federation. Another school of thought posits that the giveaway of the peat resource to Berger Ltd. is a mask for a deeper program.
In the mid-70's, the late Roger Jourdain, then Chairman of the Red Lake Nation and I, fought an attempt by state politicians and Minnegasco, the energy monopoly for the Twin Cities, to be given the peatlands for gasification purposes. Mr. Jourdain's efforts on behalf of his people were successful in shooting down this gasification scheme.
Times change. Tactics change. Strategic realities change. Although the current Tribal Council at Red Lake passed a unanimous resolution of opposition to the rip-off of the Mother of all Bogs this past spring; they have taken no further action. There is concern that off-reservation casino issues between the tribe and the state may have effectively silenced the native people. Local dailies in International Falls and Bemidji, have essentially done all they can to keep the lid on this issue.
Globalization knows no limits.
A handful of activists, hampered by factors like distance, time and money, are keeping up the fight. One has even become the bête noir of the Minnesota State Legislature as he keeps pressing them over this issue.
Minnesota's prime aquifer and largest Wilderness is in deep danger of being transformed into a dried-out hole-in-the-ground because of corporate greed and political malfeasance.
Take Action! Please contact Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' Commissioner, Gene Merriam: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call toll free: 1-888-646-6367, and ask for the Commissioner's office. Ask the Commissioner to revoke the permit to mine peat in the Pine Island State Forest of the Big Bog in northern Minnesota.
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