Not just a side dish
Although not a 'feast,' crop should bode well for harvesters, hunters
Ducks and wild rice.
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In the greater Brainerd lakes area, they go together like, well, duck and wild rice. Both at the dinner table and in the field.
With the waterfowl hunting and wild rice seasons upon us, many area lakes are just opening to wild rice harvesters. And while officials don't expect the season to be of the "feast" variety, neither do they expect it to be a famine.
Summer stands of wild rice in some of Minnesota's shallow lakes and marshes appear to be slightly shorter and thinner this year than in the recent past. But it should be plentiful enough for migrating waterfowl and hunters this fall.
"The overall crop in Aitkin and Crow Wing counties is average, but not the bumper crop we've seen the last two years," said Gary Drotts, DNR wildlife manager in Brainerd who, over the weekend, was doing some wild rice harvesting of his own.
The wild rice season officially opened Aug. 15, although several popular wild rice harvesting waters were closed until just recently, including Mallard Lake in Aitkin County, which opened for wild rice harvest at 9 a.m. Thursday, and Flowage Lake in Aitkin County and Lower Dean Lake in Crow Wing County, which opened at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Summer stands of wild rice in some of Minnesota's shallow lakes and marshes appear to be slightly shorter and thinner this year than in the recent past. But it should be plentiful enough for migrating waterfowl and hunters this fall.
"Aitkin, Itasca, Crow Wing, Cass and St. Louis counties account for 60 percent of the wild rice acreage and wild rice harvest trips in the state," said Ray Norrgard, wetland wildlife program coordinator for the DNR. "So absolutely (it's a hotbed for wild rice harvesting). It's about the epicenter of wild rice country. From Lake Mille Lacs north into Leech Lake and Winnie (Lake Winnibigoshish) country is the heart of prime wild rice. That's not to say that you won't find it in other places, because you do. But that really is the center of activity."
Which, according to Ducks Unlimited, should bode well for waterfowl hunters in this area this season. Mediocre wild rice crop or not.
"Many stands of rice appear to have shorter stalks with fewer seeds, and dense stands of harvestable rice will be more widely distributed this year," said Rod Ustipak, contract coordinator of DU's cooperative wild rice lake management program with the DNR. "The consensus is there will still be abundant 'duck rice' out there this fall in many lakes (in the state)."
"Wild rice production appears highly variable throughout the north this year," said Perry Loegering, DNR area wildlife manager in Grand Rapids. "But by no means will the rice crop be a bust. There is lots of rice for ducks, and harvesters will just have to look around for good stands to pick."
According to DU, ring-necked ducks, mallards, wood ducks and teal are the primary duck species that utilize wild rice habitat in Minnesota, and more ring-necked ducks are harvested here than in any other state in most years.
Wild rice harvesting numbers, however, have been on the decline since the boom of the 1960s, when, according to Norrgard, 16,000 wild rice harvest licenses were sold in one year.
"When we look at the numbers, we look at state harvest license sales and not everyone is required to buy a license," Norrgard said, referring to how the declining numbers may be somewhat misleading. "If you're under 18 you don't have to buy a license and if you're a tribal member harvesting on the reservation you don't have to buy a license ... State licenses don't tell the whole story.
"In recent years, the number (of licenses sold) has been as low as 800 and as high as a couple thousand. We established in a 2008 report that there were 4,000 to 6,000 in Minnesota who harvest on an (irregular) basis, not necessarily every year. That's a significant number of people, but not large when you compare it to the number of anglers and hunters. It's probably approaching the number of trappers. So if you look over the last decade, yes, it's declined. But in recent years, it's holding steady."
Why the lull in numbers? Harvesting wild rice is not easy work, Norrgard said. And for the novice harvester or for someone who would like to give it a try, it's not like there's an instructional manual for this sort of thing, he said.
"It has to be something you really want to do," he said. "And make sure you're familiar with the regulations ... And harvest hours. I wish we really had an excellent handbook or video where you could go to and learn more. I think it's a real need to address for providing better information for getting people started in harvesting wild rice. But even then, finding a processor can be a real challenge. You can drive farther to find a processor than you might drive to find wild rice.
"The tribal side has been successful at starting to recruit more young people. It's a family based activity. But the vast majority (of wild rice harvesters) are between 40 and 60. As you get past 60, physically, it's more and more difficult, although we did sell a license to a guy who was 85. But where are the young folks in this? Time is going to have to tell.
"There are a lot of them (experienced wild rice harvesters) in Crow Wing County. If you have a chance to go with someone with experience, that's the ideal mentor. It's a real challenge."
Helpful information on wild rice and wild rice harvesting may be found at www.dnr.state.mn.us/fish_wildlife/wildlife/wildrice/index.html and www.1854treatyauthority.org/wildrice/
Licenses - $15 daily and $25 annual for residents and $30 for non-residents - may be purchased online at www.dnr.state.mn.us/licenses/hunting/ index.html?type=hunting. For more information on wild rice management, go to www.dnr.state.mn.us/wildlife/shallow lakes/wildrice.html.
BRIAN S. PETERSON may be reached at brian.peterson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5864.