NHMA Spring Pond Bog Trip
On Dec 10, 1998 The Boardwalk Committee from the Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks (NHMA) enjoyed an outing to Spring Pond Bog. The purpose of the trip was to look at the construction of the teacher's boardwalk and discuss the relevance of a similar boardwalk to be constructed at Moody Marsh, in Tupper Lake, NY. Adirondack bogs have been discussed by the NHMA Program Committee as a possible theme for an exhibit in the museum. Below is a short synopsis of Spring Pond Bog and a few photos of the field trip.
Spring Pond Bog, the second largest open expanse of peatland in New York State, contains a patterned peatland, with ridges (strings) and wet depressions (flarks). The open bog mat itself is approximately 500 acres in size and the complete preserve is 4,200 acres. This is all part of the low elevation boreal (northern) ecosystem, with a number of different natural communities, including swamps and peatlands, more abundant in northern Canada.
We began out trip at Macdonald's' restaurant, in Tupper Lake, early Saturday morning. Access to Spring Pond Bog requires written permission. Jim Carr, a volunteer for the Nature Conservancy, offered to be our guide. From Tupper Lake we took the Pitchfork Pond Road to the Derek tract gate, and then on to the ghost town of Derrik, where only one building is left standing from days of past glory. After an interesting history lesson from Jim, we continued on to the bog. What seemed to impress the group most was the sheer size of the area.
Jim Carr gives us a history lesson about Derrik
From the high on the esker you get a fascinating view of the bog. The green spongy plant that carpets the entire bog is Sphagnum, also called peat moss. The Sphagnum moss absorbs and holds water like a sponge and provides a mat for other plants to take root.
Jim talking to us about the bog
The area that surrounding the peatland is also wet and nutrient poor. Black spruce, northern white cedar and tamarack are among the few tree species that can grow under these poor conditions. The wetland and surrounding woodlands of this northern forest community provide feeding and nesting sites for a number of boreal birds, such as spruce grouse.
Here you can get some idea of the vastness of this fascinating bog