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Wild rice (manoomin) abundance and harvest in northern Wisconsin in:
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Manoomin (Wild Rice)
Translated from Ojibwemowin, manoomin means the “good berry,” and it is a food that has long provided both physical and spiritual sustenance to the Ojibwe people. Some teachings relate that the Ojibwe people migrated from the East having been told to settle when they find the food that grows upon the water, which they discovered in the waters of the Lake Superior region.
Resources: Please see GLIFWC brochures: Wild Rice Ecology-Harvest-Management and Manoomin-Wild Rice: The Good Berry; also visit GLIFWC’s wild rice website at www.manoomin.com. |
Wild Plant Gathering in National Forests
Traditionally, the Ojibwe people relied on a host of wild plants for food, medicines and other practical purposes. Many of these plants remain important today. To provide more harvesting opportunities to tribal members, GLIFWC’s member tribes entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Forest Service that gives tribal members the ability to harvest plants in national forests within the ceded territories. With a permit tribal members can harvest plants such as princess pine, balsam boughs, birch bark, ginseng, wintergreen, to mention a few, and may even set-up a sugarbush.
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Emerald Ash Borer
Its rate of spread has been alarmingly quick and has already killed or damaged millions of ash trees. It apparently infests all species of ash. In an effort to control its spread, government authorities in the United States and Canada have issued a quarantine on all ash trees and products, including firewood, in all affected areas.
The adult borer measures approximately 2 inch long. Its iridescent, metallic green backside compliments its right, emerald green bottom side. The larva, at maturity, has a wormlike body measuring approximately one inch long and divided into triangular-shaped segments.
The potential for the emerald ash borer to decimate ash tree species in North America has experts gravely worried. Hence, a program has been initiated to educate the public on the need to abide by the established quarantine areas and to report suspected infestations. Furthermore, the public has been instructed to dispose of infested ash trees by either burning or taking them to designated disposal sites.
ResourcesEmerald Ash Borer Hotline 1-866-325-0023 (toll free) |
The emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, an insect native to
Asia, has recently been introduced to North America, probably in the wood of
Asian ash species used for stabilizing cargo in ships or for crating heavy
consumer products. Scientists first detected this insect in May 2002 in
southeastern Michigan, and by July 2002, they detected it across the St.
Clair River in Windsor, Ontario in Canada.
Adult emerald ash borers lay eggs on the bark of ash trees during late
spring and early summer. Soon thereafter, the eggs hatch, releasing larvae
that bore through the outer bark to feed on the inner bark and sapwood. The
larvae overwinter one or two seasons in the tree, pupate, and emerge as adult
beetles the following spring. Adult females live for approximately 20 days;
adult males live only about 13 days. 
A tree's inner bark and sapwood provide the transport system for nutrients
and water. As the number of emerald ash borer larvae increase, this transport
system becomes seriously debilitated until, after two or three years of
continuous infestation, the tree dies. Trees rarely survive an infestation.
Healthy trees with low levels of infestation may potentially be saved using
insecticides. But even then, the effectiveness of insecticides has not yet
been conclusively determined.
