Myrtle Lake Peatland is a perfect example of the kind of \"natural laboratory\" that the Scientific and Natural Areas program was founded to protect.
In the original ranking of the state's peatlands as candidates for protection by legislative statute in 1991, Myrtle Lake Peatland was second only to the Red Lake Peatland in overall score. It matched Red Lake for its scientific research value, and bested it for lack of disturbance, since (unlike the state's other major peatlands) it has not been impacted by ditching.
This undisturbed quality is still a hallmark of Myrtle Lake Peatland. \"Pristine\" is not a word that plant ecologists use easily, but it's the word that DNR peatland specialist Erika Rowe attributes to this SNA.
Aerial images convey the striking features of this patterned peatland: a massive raised bog with spruce trees radiating from its crest; large water track; ribbed fen with \"strings\" (ridges) and \"flarks\" (pools) oriented at right angles to water movement; and both circular and tear-drop shaped islands. In the 11,700 years since Glacial Lake Agassiz departed its lakebed in the region, over 12 vertical feet of peat has slowly accumulated here, the water table rising along with it. Myrtle Lake itself, rather than filling in over time, still shines like a blue eye in the vast landscape.
In the history of Minnesota conservation, the name Bud Heinselman is perhaps best remembered for his work related to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness But in the international scientific community, those who study the state's peatlands will always associate Dr. Miron (\"Bud\") Heinselman with Myrtle Lake Peatland.
Heinselman's pioneering research at the site led to important advances in understanding of boreal peatland development. Starting in the 1950s, he worked to define what he called the \"extraordinarily complex series of interactions\" at play here, including chemical, microbial, climatic, topographic and mineralogical factors. He sought for decades to puzzle out the direction—if one existed—of the peatland's evolution, in part by studying core samples of peat for fossil clues to past vegetation. The transect line he set up to collect these core samples is still known as \"The Heinselman Trail.\" While the trail is now barely discernible in the landscape, his body of work endures.
Rare plant species here include the ram's head orchid, white adder's mouth, coastal sedge, twig rush, bog rush and English sundew. Interesting butterfly finds recorded by Minnesota Biological Survey lepidopterist Kyle Johnson include the bog copper and Arctic fritillary.
Myrtle Lake Peatland, is also a National Natural Landmark.
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