And in a marvelous intersection of time and place and idea, today we dedicate to her memory a bog ecosystem within the great north woods. The 76-acre Mollie Beattie Bog includes a flat open bog area covering 20 acres and supports a wide variety of shrubs, stunted trees and other plants. A swamp crowded with tamarack and black spruce surrounds the bog. An inventory of the bog found at least 13 rare plants and animal species and numerous migratory birds using it for breeding habitat. A boardwalk allows visitors to get into the bog without damaging the plant life or getting wet.
Interpretive signs help viewers know what it is they are seeing.
It is my opinion Champion has done a great job in making Mollie Beattie Bog a truly Special Place in the Forest. Soon after the dedication, Champion announced plans to sell all of its Vermont holdings, and concerns were raised by many about the future of the working forest. At least we don't have to worry about Mollie Beattie Bog. Mollie would have liked what Porterfield said, and it ties in with another part of her Chattanooga speech explaining the ecosystem approach. It is an ethic that, in the words of Teddy Roosevelt, believes in treating 'natural resources as assets which we must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired in value'.