South Nation Conservation continues this fall with a project to restore water quality and wildlife habitat-regenerating wild rice fields to portions of its 4,000 square-km watershed.SNC Staff member Naomi Langlois-Anderson is shown harvesting wild rice in late August on the South Nation River just upstream of Crysler.

PHOTO CREDIT - South Nation Conservation

Finch - Oct. 23, 2011 - South Nation Conservation continues this fall with a project to restore water quality and wildlife habitat-regenerating wild rice fields to portions of its 4,000 square-km watershed.

Volunteers are always welcome, said SNC Senior Forestry Technician Chris Craig; they can help sow the rice in areas chosen in the watershed.

Not only has wild rice traditionally been an important food source to First Nations and to migratory waterfowl, but the fields enhance habitat for other bird species and for fish, said Craig, a member of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagin. Potential volunteers can reach him at 1-877-984-2948 Ext. 234 or ccraig@nation.on.ca.

He noted that expanding the fields will also improve water quality and help limit the spread of invasive plant and fish species such as purple loosestrife and carp.

Highly impacted by increased water flow and fluctuations, traditional wild rice grasses have been lost in some measure because of damming and shoreline development, Craig said.

In recent years, SNC has teamed up with Ducks Unlimited and Plenty Canada to initiate wild rice restoration after an independent study suggested lack of suitable habitat cover along the South Nation River and its tributaries as an inhibitor to waterfowl usage.

Last year, 40 lbs. of wild rice were harvested from the Payne River tributary; this year, the harvest rose to 100 lbs., thanks in part to more favourable weather conditions.

Harvesting is conducted the age-old way, using special sticks to knock grain from the plants into canoes; in order to replant the rice, grain is kept wet by storing it in bags in the river so that embryos remain viable for germination.

In late October or early November, canoes are used to sow it, including walking in the shallows and hand-spreading seed which settles over the winter and begins to grow in the spring.

Craig explained that two distinct types of wild rice grow in the SNC watershed, the northern and the southern varieties. Both are sensitive to environmental alterations and can change form, shifting from easy to harvest to impossible to harvest. He urged volunteers to come out for an interesting day or two in the marshes while learning about wildlife conservation and management techniques.