Wild Rice Project Provides Seed for Thought: First Year Progress
Dense stand of wild rice in mid-August at the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge
Article from the Fall 2015 issue of The Wildlife Volunteer.
A wild rice project at the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge in Saginaw County, conducted by the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy (MWC), is just in its first year. But the effort is already pointing out the need for some re-thinking about the potential to restore the unique plant species. All areas planted by the Conservancy in fall of 2014 or this past spring grew some wild rice, and one area had very dense stands with seven-foot stems and plenty of seedheads by mid-August.
“We are encouraged by the preliminary results,” said MWC Board Chairman, Bill Taylor, of Calhoun County. “The project is already yielding a lot of interesting and potentially important information.”
Many failed attempts, especially in the early 1900s, to establish the once important species have long discouraged Michigan’s government agencies from working on wild rice projects. In 1943, Herbert Miller of the Michigan Conservation Department, the forerunner of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, wrote a well-circulated research report with the pull-quote, “It just won’t grow in some places, but that is no cause for alarm. There’s plenty of other food and cover for waterfowl here already.” Mr. Miller pointed out that, “Costly cutting operations are employed in Houghton lake to control this plant, and at Lake St. Helen a court injunction was issued to stop the planting of rice because additional beds were a hindrance to other recreational interests, mainly boating and fishing.” He concluded, “Much current wild rice planting is considered inadvisable because of the likelihood of failure, the absence of a need for the rice in most cases, and the conflict with other recreational interests that may be expected if the plant thrives too well.”
This attitude persists today in Michigan, despite changing environmental conditions, more knowledge about the ecological value of wild rice, and considerable success in restoring wild rice by state agencies and Native American tribes in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The MWC started its wild rice project, with the cooperation of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that manages the Refuge, to better understand the factors that influence rice planting success. Seed was planted in three types of habitats that had various limiting factors for wild rice establishment, and in one area, fenced plots were used to gauge the effect of browsing by waterfowl and other animals on rice seedlings.
“We are a long way from analyzing all the factors, or from declaring the project a success, but we know that some wild rice grew in all types of microhabitats—soft and firm bottoms, shallow and deep water, clear and turbid water—and where there were high densities of carp and potential browsers such as muskrats and geese, “ said Dr. Patrick Rusz, MWC’s director of wildlife programs. “Browsing affected the rice growth, but even where it was severe, the plants produced some seedheads.” Wild rice is an annual plant that depends on self-seeding for continued survival.
Future plans are to continue to seed the areas for the next four years, consistent with guidelines for wild rice restoration recently developed in Minnesota. Annual monitoring will also continue, and trail cameras may be employed to obtained more information about the nature and timing of browsing. The Shiawassee Flats Citizens and Hunters Association recently joined the effort that was initiated with the help of a donation from Richard Beckman, husband of Margaret Beckman, daughter of Russell Bengel the founder of the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy. Seed is being obtained with cooperation from the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. For information on how you can assist with the wild rice research, please contact John Ropp of MWC at 517-6417677 or email [email protected].
Photos taken by Dr. Tim Kaufman.
For Second Year Progress of the Wild Rice Program, click here.
A wild rice project at the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge in Saginaw County, conducted by the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy (MWC), is just in its first year. But the effort is already pointing out the need for some re-thinking about the potential to restore the unique plant species. All areas planted by the Conservancy in fall of 2014 or this past spring grew some wild rice, and one area had very dense stands with seven-foot stems and plenty of seedheads by mid-August.
“We are encouraged by the preliminary results,” said MWC Board Chairman, Bill Taylor, of Calhoun County. “The project is already yielding a lot of interesting and potentially important information.”
Many failed attempts, especially in the early 1900s, to establish the once important species have long discouraged Michigan’s government agencies from working on wild rice projects. In 1943, Herbert Miller of the Michigan Conservation Department, the forerunner of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, wrote a well-circulated research report with the pull-quote, “It just won’t grow in some places, but that is no cause for alarm. There’s plenty of other food and cover for waterfowl here already.” Mr. Miller pointed out that, “Costly cutting operations are employed in Houghton lake to control this plant, and at Lake St. Helen a court injunction was issued to stop the planting of rice because additional beds were a hindrance to other recreational interests, mainly boating and fishing.” He concluded, “Much current wild rice planting is considered inadvisable because of the likelihood of failure, the absence of a need for the rice in most cases, and the conflict with other recreational interests that may be expected if the plant thrives too well.”
This attitude persists today in Michigan, despite changing environmental conditions, more knowledge about the ecological value of wild rice, and considerable success in restoring wild rice by state agencies and Native American tribes in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The MWC started its wild rice project, with the cooperation of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that manages the Refuge, to better understand the factors that influence rice planting success. Seed was planted in three types of habitats that had various limiting factors for wild rice establishment, and in one area, fenced plots were used to gauge the effect of browsing by waterfowl and other animals on rice seedlings.
“We are a long way from analyzing all the factors, or from declaring the project a success, but we know that some wild rice grew in all types of microhabitats—soft and firm bottoms, shallow and deep water, clear and turbid water—and where there were high densities of carp and potential browsers such as muskrats and geese, “ said Dr. Patrick Rusz, MWC’s director of wildlife programs. “Browsing affected the rice growth, but even where it was severe, the plants produced some seedheads.” Wild rice is an annual plant that depends on self-seeding for continued survival.
Future plans are to continue to seed the areas for the next four years, consistent with guidelines for wild rice restoration recently developed in Minnesota. Annual monitoring will also continue, and trail cameras may be employed to obtained more information about the nature and timing of browsing. The Shiawassee Flats Citizens and Hunters Association recently joined the effort that was initiated with the help of a donation from Richard Beckman, husband of Margaret Beckman, daughter of Russell Bengel the founder of the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy. Seed is being obtained with cooperation from the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. For information on how you can assist with the wild rice research, please contact John Ropp of MWC at 517-6417677 or email [email protected].
Photos taken by Dr. Tim Kaufman.
For Second Year Progress of the Wild Rice Program, click here.
Closeup of a wild rice seedhead in mid-August at the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge
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Close up of browsing evidence on wild rice stems in mid-August
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Fenced plots were used by MWC to assess browsing effects. Higher rice growth was evident inside the fence, especially the half enclosed in smaller mesh
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