This article appeared in the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s August 2025 Newsletter edition.
Each late summer, WWA invites members and volunteers to help collect wild rice—a tradition that has been practiced for thousands of years by Native Americans. Working with the WI DNR and the Great Lakes Indian Game Fish and Wildlife Commission, we redistribute harvested rice to historic wild rice beds.
Interested volunteers should contact B.J. Grassmann, Habitat Chair, at grassmannbj@gmail.com. Ricing typically occurs in early September, depending on the harvest schedule. Participants must bring their own canoe, rice sticks, and push poles, and obtain a DNR permit via the Gowild site.
