SUSTAINING A RICING CULTURE: A LANDSCAPE APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING HARVEST AND MANAGEMENT OF WILD RICE ACROSS STATE, TRIBAL, AND TREATY CEDED LA

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0209307
• Project Start Date: Oct 1, 2006
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2007
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
UNIV OF WISCONSIN
21 N PARK ST STE 6401
MADISON,WI 53715-1218

Performing Department
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

Non Technical Summary
Wild rice habitat, like other water based resources, is under increasing pressure from development, recreation and changing land use. Across the region the pattern of management for wild rice is fragmented and understanding of its distribution incomplete. We explore the connectons between wild rice harvest and management on a broad scale through regional mapping, demography, and landscape characterization. At a finer scale, we employ lake observations during rice harvest and interviews with harvesters.

Animal Health Component

90%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

10%

Applied

90%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
111	6099	3100	50%
136	0330	1070	50%

Knowledge Area
136 - Conservation of Biological Diversity; 111 - Conservation and Efficient Use of Water;

Subject Of Investigation
6099 - People and communities, general/other; 0330 - Wetland and riparian systems;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology; 3100 - Management;

Keywords

wild rice

manoomin

sustenance

management

treaty ceded

tribal

regional distribution

harvesters

spatial pattern

Goals / Objectives
This research attempts to fill gaps in knowledge about wild rice landscapes. We will explore connections between wild rice distribution, harvest and management on a broad scale through regional mapping, permit analysis, and landscape characterization. At a finer scale, we employ landing obersvations during rice harvest and interviews at six study lakes. Specific research questions are: What landscapes currently support harvestable wild rice and how do they differ across the region? How is wild rice "managed" and for what purpose(s)? And finally, who are the people involved in harvesting wild rice today and what is their relationship to this unique resource?

Project Methods
This study uses a nested mixed methods approach of regional analysis and case studies, each level informing the other and integrating both quantitative and qualitative data. The regional level provides a broad understanding of landscape level issues by sythesizing the information collected at the local level and bringing it together to describe the system regionally. Mapping of wild rice distribution, through input from local and jurisdictional areas is one example. To enhance and expand our understanding of wild rice landscapes, interviews with long-term ricers,document review, and permit records analysis will be used to explore changes they have seen in the wild rice over their years of harvesting. The case studies, representing different managerial jurisdictions across the wild rice region, provide an in depth look using two specific sites within each management framework, for a total of six sites. Sites were evaluated on the following criteria prior to selection.*Study sites should have a history of wild rice harvest for at least the past ten years. *Sites should be large enough to support several groups of harvesters. * Sites should be actively managed or monitored for wild rice.

Progress 10/01/06 to 09/30/07

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Save Our Rice Alliance (SORA), a newly forming non-profit engaging both state and tribal interests to protect native wild rice and the hand-harvest economy it supports, emerged from a series of participatory workshops, funded through a Community Forestry Research Fellowship, involving wild rice harvesters in research led by Annette Drewes, a University of Wisconsin - Madison graduate student. Her research "Sustaining a ricing culture: a landscape approach to understanding harvest and distrution of wild rice across state, tribal and treaty ceded lands in Minnesota and Wisconsin" also involved interviews with harvesters, site visits to lakes and spatial descriptions of harvester movements and distribution. SORA is a recipient of a National Forest Foundation Community Assistance Program Grant (CAP). This award ($15,000 over two years) will assist SORA to develop its non-profit status, strengthen communication networks and build the framework for a collaborative process engaging communities (tribal and non-tribal), natural resource managers and wild rice harvesters across the rice growing region in Minnesota and Wisconsin. PhD candidate Annette Drewes finished her dissertation research during the reporting period and will defend on April 15, 2008. In addition to SORA, results from her research will be disseminated and shared with: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Wild Rice Technical Team in their Wild Rice Study for the 2008 Minnesota Legislature; wild rice harvesters, both tribal and non-tribal participants; Save Our Rice Alliance, newly formed organization to protect and sustain the culture of hand-harvesting wild rice; state and tribal entities that are involved in management of wild rice, including the 1854 Treaty Authority, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe (MN), Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (MN), Sokaogon Chippewa (Mole Lake, WI), Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe (MN) and White Earth Chippewa (MN), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. PARTICIPANTS: Annette Drewes, research assistant and PhD candidate; Save Our Rice Alliance, newly formed organization to protect and sustain the culture of hand-harvesting wild rice; state and tribal entities that are involved in management of wild rice, including the 1854 Treaty Authority; Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, TARGET AUDIENCES: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Wild Rice Technical Team in their Wild Rice Study for the 2008 Minnesota Legislature; wild rice harvesters, both tribal and non-tribal participants; Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe (MN), Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (MN), Sokaogon Chippewa (Mole Lake, WI), Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe (MN) and White Earth Chippewa (MN), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Impacts
RA and PhD candidate Drewes conducted several wild rice harvester meetings in 2007 that led to identification of shared community issues and interests, and to formation of Save Our Rice Alliance (SORA), an emerging non-profit to protect natural wild rice and the harvesting culture it supports, with Ms. Drewes as the founder and director. Wild Rice Advisory Group and SORA Organization. 2007. World Cafe style. University of Minnesota Cloquet Forestry Research Station, Cloquet, MN. Jul 28. Wild rice harvester meetings. 2007. Issue identification and information sharing. Invited presenters from Ducks Unlimited, Minnesota DNR, White Earth Land Recovery Project, and Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission. Six meetings held in MN and WI, Jan-Feb, 109 attendees total.

Publications

• A. Drewes and J. Silbernagel. 2007. An integrative look at wild rice distribution and harvest across state, tribal and treaty ceded lands in Minnesota and Wisconsin. US-IALE annual meeting, Tucson, AZ. Apr 9-13.
• A.Drewes. 2007. Sustaining a ricing culture: a landscape approach to understanding harvest and management of wild rice across state, tribal and treaty-ceded lands in Minnesota and Wisconsin. U.S. Community Forestry Research Conference, Land Between the Rivers National Recreation Area, TN. Sep 4-9.
• Norrgard, R., Drotts, G., Drewes, A., and Dietz, D. 2007. Minnesota Natural Wild Rice Harvest Survey: A Study of Harvesters' Activities and Opinions. Management Section of Wildlife, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, St. Paul., MN. 139 pp.