Here in Minnesota, scientists say we are sitting on a climate change superhero.

Peatlands, a type of wetland, cover more than 10% of the state — that’s the most of any in the lower 48. But over time, peatlands have been misunderstood and mistreated. Now some are trying to change that.

“You might feel like we’ve jumped into a Dr. Suess novel,” said Mark Felice, a peatland scientist with The Nature Conservancy.

At the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve in East Bethel, truffle top black spruces, cotton grass puffs, colorful mosses and carnivorous plants fill in where glacial lakes retreated.

“It’s just like a whole little world,” said Eric Seabloom, interim director of Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve.

Except in this world each step squishes shaking the ground around it.

“It feels like walking on a water bed,” said Felice.

Scientists say the moss-carpeted wetland is pure magic.

“Peatlands are basically areas where as plants die they fall on the ground and then slowly decompose like your compost pile,” said Seabloom.

When that happens, it pulls carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and stores it in the soil.

“So slowly little by little, layer by layer, we’ve built up the soil we’re standing on,” said Felice.

And while peatlands occupy just 3% of Earth’s land surface, scientists say they store about 30% of the planet’s land-based carbon. That’s more than double held by the world’s forests, according to the Nature Conservancy.

To capture their power, Felice brings along his portable greenhouse gas analyzer, which he says reminds him of R2D2 from “Star Wars.” He also carries with him laser sensors that detect methane and carbon dioxide emissions.

“Peat soil can hold about 20 times its weight in water,” said Felice

It acts like a sponge for both carbon and water, and can provide flood protection and water filtration.

“They’re sort of a hidden treasure that we don’t really think about,” said Seabloom. “Now we can understand better how these are really important, huge stores of carbon. We definitely need them.”

But over time scientists say peatlands have been misunderstood, drained for development or agriculture and scientists are now learning why that was a mistake and how we can fix it.

“People always thought of peatlands or wetlands as sort of a menace to society or something in the way to be drained away,” said Chris Lenhart, a restorationist at The Nature Conservancy. “We’re right along Cedar Creek here. This is the part that’s been straightened about 100 to 120 years ago.”

The Nature Conservancy says up to one sixth of Minnesota’s peatlands were drained in the early 20th century. 

The soil of a drained peatland looks a lot like dirt.

“It’s breaking down the organic matter and releasing the carbon dioxide as opposed to holding it in place,” said Lenhart.

To fix it, restoration teams will take a straightened section of the stream and rewiggle it to it’s original form. 

Restoring the stream to its original form slows the water, raises the levels, and rewets the peat soils on the shores, emitting less carbon dioxide and accumulating valuable peat once again.

The Nature Conservancy says restoring and rewetting farmed and partially-drained peatlands in Minnesota could cut roughly 6.36 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, which is like getting rid of nearly 1.5 million gas powered cars for a year. 

“We can have a lot of impact by managing and taking care of a pretty small blueprint,” said Felice.

“Even around the world people know about Minnesota I’d say for peatland and wetland science and protection,” said Lenhart.

Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve is owned by the University of Minnesota. It’s an area with many active research studies and restoration projects. It’s also known nationally for its research.