Hmm, that's a real ethical delimma in my opinion. First of all, I'd make sure your pile of soil wasn't put there by beavers and not machines. Secondly, regardless of how it was created, in the meantime I'm certain it has become habitat for wildlife which will certainly be displaced once you "clean it up".

I'm reminded of a situation of a real bog in Augusta county virginia. It was a cranberry bog hosting several rare orchids and ferns. Someone bought it thinking that they could "clean it up" and make a resort. All the peat and plants were removed and sand brought in to cover the bottom. Then they added neon colored dinosaurs and waterslides. The irony here is that this was a resort at the edge of a national forest for people who wanted to escape the city and experience nature.

While my example involves a natural ecosystem, and is therefore quite different, some of the same lessons still apply. What are your reasons for cleaning it up? If it is purely for recreation, then maybe there isn't anything wrong wth altering it (as long as you don't introduce non-native fish or plants); however if you value the site for its natural and ecological value then you'd be better off either leaving it, or restoring the original stream.

The mountain of dirt stands about 12 feet tall, 15 feet wide, I've never seen beavers here but that would be cool! While the idea of rounding up the neighborhood children and charging them admission to enter our "waterpark" sounds like a real money-maker there, I don't think we have that much enthusiasm. They will probably stick to shoveling snow and babysitting for money. Nothing as far as fish live in there, its a clogged up mess from the fallen branches and leaves. There are lots of creek beds back there and muskrats in those, water turtles. They are more interested in providing a nice place for wildlife to live and for them to observe it and learn. Anyway, I am aware of the ethics and mesquito larva involved, just intersted in opinions of the work it would involve. karen

Regarding mosquito larva, there are some great natural controls for them that you can get. The larva of many kinds of insects and amphibians eat them. You may even have some natural controls already living in there. The irony here is that removing the leaves won't bother the mosquitoes at all, they'll live in pure rain water, but it could remove hiding places for the amphibians that eat them.

I say all this, but also keep in mind there are certainly degrees of habitat modification. Cleaning up part of the area, or removing a small amount of debris is probably not going to harm anything. As to what it would require as far as physical labor, I don't think it would as hard as it just would be disgusting. Kids might like that though ;)

Here is a link that might be useful: Source of Mosquito Controls

I've been an outdoorsey girl my whole life, I understand where you are coming from "environmentally", perhaps my question should have been worded more carefully. Yes, they would enjoy the mud as much as I enjoy shoveling horse manure and seaweed onto my gardens. (although saying that certainly puts me in the position of being a crab and shrimp displacer in your mind : ) ) I've been on gardenweb quite some time and am always discovering new forums and find the lurkers sometimes an "interesting sort" I particularly enjoy the lovable snobs in the "shrubs" forum. the compost/soil group are my favorite though. that said, maybe I am in the wrong forum with my question as I'm just trying to figure out if such a clean-up task is reasonable. Maybe too many leaves fall in the winter....the water level may go down too much if much of it is consisting of leaves and debri...that's sortof where I'm going with this question. The feasibility. Obviously we have bats that help our mesquito problems and I am not really complaining about my mesquito's as you know. karen

You have to admit, it is a bit odd to ask "how do I get rid of a "bog/swamp"" on a bog gardening forum ;o) Kinda like going on the perennials forum and asking the best way to turn your perennial beds into lawn.

I confess my first concern was what might be there already as well. We could tell you if it's suitable as a bog/swamp and what you could try growing in it, not so sure what it would take to turn it into a pond.

Maybe the ponds forum would be more helpful?

Sounds like that pile of dirt is a great source of rich soil, from the woods, for your garden or landscaping! The "debris" from the bottom of the pond would be great in your garden and composter too! I dont think you'll hurt anything cleaning it up in the spring, after the dormant critters are awake. You'll be giving them time to settle into new homes over the summer.