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The Celery Bog

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Development of the Celery Bog

The Celery Bog has undergone many changes to become the wetland we know today. The process began at the end of the last ice age 15,000 years ago. At this time,  the current Celery Bog was covered by a large open lake similar to Hadley Lake.

hadley lake
Hadley Lake

 

Phase 1- Over time, this open lake became filled with sediment and vegetation. The area was in a transitional stage changing from a lake into a wetland. The type of wetland it changed into is known as a fen.

lake to fen
Lake to Fen Transformation

fen
Fen


Phase 2- Wetlands are one of the richest biological habitats on Earth. Unfortunately, they have been viewed for centuries as a physical constraint to most land uses and they have been drained in order for the land to be used by the ever growing population. The eradication of wetlands was a global phenomena, and in the United States, agriculture was the primary reason for draining wetlands. The Celery Bog area underwent this trend in the late 1800's when farmers installed a tile drainage system to dry out the wetland so crops could be grown in the rich peat soil. Click here to learn more about this period in the history of our Celery Bog.  A tract of farmland near the present-day marsh still illustrates this stage in the Celery Bog's history.

farm
A view of the northern portion of the Celery Bog, where the land is still used for farming.


Phase 3- Due to difficulties in draining the lower portions of the wetland, the current marsh formed after the tile drain system was abandoned in the late 1960's. Without the drainage system being operated, the water levels quickly rose in the old wetland area to form our present-day Celery Bog.

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