Pete McGeshick II, 80, a Sokaogon Chippewa tribal member and former Rice Chief, recalls when he and Sokaogon Chippewa tribal members used to harvest wild rice on Spur Lake. The wild rice is all but gone, but DNR ecologists are working to clear Twin Lakes Creek, hoping to revive wild rice on Spur Lake.
The last several decades have been unkind to wild rice in Wisconsin.
The resource has deep cultural roots in the state, especially for Ojibwe tribal members. But it has been disappearing on lakes and rivers.
The Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission estimates about half of the wild rice that once grew in Wisconsin is now gone. Five or six percent disappeared in the last decade.
Now, the Wisconsin DNR and a group of partners are trying to bring back what was lost on Spur Lake.