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 successful in moving part of it back to its original resting spot.
Bog watch on North Long Lake is summer excitement for lake residents like Dave Sapeltan and Bonnie Johnson.
“Just amazing. I watched it last fall,” Dave Sapeltan said.
“It's really exciting,” said Johnson. “I have heard from friends in Mexico that have said, 'What about the bog on your lake?'”
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.
“It's just a freak of nature,” Sapeltan said.
From there, the DNR and other lake officials struggled to budge the mighty bog.
“We've had some humbling experiences out here,” said DNR official Kevin Martini.
“You ain’t going to move 8 million pounds with a few boats,” Sapeltan said.
Legionville Safety Camp relies on the beach. And with the bog so close to shore, they decided it just wasn't safe. And they canceled the whole camp.
But now, with the center section cut into three pieces and dozen of volunteers, they saw progress.
“Just the fact it's moving is really exciting,” Johnson said.
Inch by inch, the slow slaying of the North Long Lake monster bog is underway.
“That's been our goal all along. We want them to have their beach,” Martini said.
The DNR plans to chain the pieces they moved to shore, to prevent them from floating back to the Legionville beach. Sunday’s goal was clearing the section in front of the beach, but they’ll likely work on the other sections later on.