Lower Rice Lake, the major wild rice-producing lake on the White Earth Reservation: Historic to Present Water Levels NASA- Kiksapa Summer REU

Transcription

1 Lower Rice Lake, the major wild rice-producing lake on the White Earth Reservation: Historic to Present Water Levels Lainey Fineday White Earth Tribal and Community College 2011 NASA- Kiksapa Summer REU

2 Discussion Overview Wild Rice (Zizania Palustris) is an aquatic grass species native to North America that grows in the shallow lakes and rivers of Minnesota. Lower Rice Lake is the largest lake on the White Earth Indian Reservation in Northern Minnesota. The White Earth treaty of 1867 states this lake as part of a farming region in the area. Lower Rice Lake Southwest view

3 Background Lower Rice Lake Coniferous Biome The prairie biome was intended for farming practices for those who wished to farm. Prairie Biome Deciduous Biome

4 Background White Earth Reservation Lower Rice Lake Minnesota state grain

5 Before harvest Background continued After harvest

6 Background continued LOWER RICE LAKE RICE LAKE,MN Estimated % of the lake is wild rice

7 Objective Statement The objective of this project is to assess changes in water levels on Lower Rice Lake, a major wild rice-producing lake on the White Earth Reservation utilizing geo-spatial information from NASA images historical aerial photos and historical maps. Historic maps by Holly Ristau Thank you

8 Materials and Methods Installed ArcMap10 Import all data into ARCGIS Geo-Reference historic maps from Downloaded Landsat 4&5 imagery Digitized Landsat 4&5 imagery from Traveled to Lower Rice to get field data with kayaks Downloaded USDA/NAIP images

9 Before A geo referenced 1870 Colton s sectional map After Results and Discussion

10 acres in 1984 Results and Discussion acres in 1987 Legend lowerricelake1984 lowerricelake acres in acres in 1997 Legend lowerrricelkae1996 lowerricelake acres in acres in acres in acres in acres in acres in 2006 Legend lowerricelkae1998 lowerricelake2000 lowerricelake2003 Legend lowerricelake2004 lowerricelake2005 lowerricelake2006

11 acres in 2008 Results and Discussion acres in acres in 2010 Legend lowerricelake2008 lowerricelake2009 lowerricelake2010 Length 6.2 miles Width 1.4 miles Perimeter 17 miles Lower Rice Lake

12 Recommendations and future work Why are there so many water lilies at the southern end of the lake? Have they always been there? Will they eventually take over the wild rice areas? PHOTOS BY: Diane Kier and Lainey Fineday Are high sulfate levels effecting the crop? Has the canal in the northeastern part of the lake been draining farmland runoff into the lake effecting the crop?

13 Literature Cited Davidson-Hunt, I.J. (2003) Indigenous lands management, cultural landscapes and Anishinaabe people of Shoal Lake, Northwestern Ontario, Canada. Environments, 31, Lee, P.F. (1986) Ecological relationships of wild rice, Zizania aquatica: 4. Environmental regions within a wild rice lake. Canadian Journal of Botany, 64, Lee, P.F. (1987) Ecological relationships of wild rice, Zizania aquatica: 6. The effects of increases in water depth on vegetative and reproductive production. Canadian Journal of Botany, 65, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (2008). Natural Wild Rice In Minnesota. State of Minnesota, St. Paul. Moyle, J.B. (1944) Wild Rice in Minnesota. Journal of Wildlife Management, 8, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (2008). Natural Wild Rice In Minnesota. State of Minnesota, St. Paul. Oelke, E., Bloom, P.R., Porter, R.A., & Liu, Q. (2000). Wild rice plant development and seed physiology. In Proceedings of the Wild Rice Research and Management Conference (eds L.S. Williamson, L.A. Dlutkowski & A.P. McCammon Soltis), pp Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, Odanah, Wisconsin. Regguinti, G. (1992) The Sacred Harvest: Ojibway Wild Rice Gathering. Lerner Publications Company, Minneapolis. Taube, E. (1951) Wild Rice. In The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 73, pp Thomas, A.G. & Stewart, J.M. (1969) The effect of different water depths on the growth of wild rice. Canadian Journal of Botany, 47,

14 Acknowledgements This project was funded by Kiksapa Consulting, LLC through NASA Cooperative Agreement Number NNX10AU65A Kathi Bennett Dr. Bull Bennett; Kiksapa Consulting, LLC Dr. Eric Wood; USGS EROS Volker Mell; Grand Ronde Confederated Tribes Joshua Bronston; Navajo Technical College Dr. Dan Wildcat Pat Kozak Olga Wilhelmi, Mary Hayden and Jennifer Boehnert (UCAR). Julia Good Fox Sonya Bonga Haskell Indian Nations University staff Colleen Campbell Greg Van Doren Michael Price Holly Ristau for the historic maps(wetcc) PHOTOS BY: Diane Kier and Lainey Fineday