Proposal To Move Floating Bog Prompts Questions

A request by a major donor to Gov. Scott Walker to basically nail down a floating bog has led to the question: What is a floating bog?

Scientists say the bogs are usually thick mats made up of roots, branches, mosses and other plant material. They either break away from shorelines when strong winds blow or rise to the surface when water levels or temperatures go up and decomposition increases.

University of Wisconsin-Madison wetland ecologist Quentin Carpenter said bogs can also go out of sight in cooler weather when decomposition slows.

“Then they lose their gases or it dissolves in the cold water and they sink,” said Carpenter. “So, they’re fascinating, fascinating phenomena.”

Walker donor Richard Uihlein seems less enthused. He wants to use boats to push a 12-acre floating bog away from his property on the Chippewa Flowage and then attach the bog to the bottom of the Northern Wisconsin waterway.