WXPR The Stream

Before the ice moved in, the Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa Community and Wisconsin DNR staff spread more than 400 pounds of wild rice seed on Spur Lake in Oneida County. Part of the strategy with this year’s seeding was how to best protect against waterfowl.

Phytoremediation is the process of using plants to clean up waste.It’s been used across the U.S. on sites like landfills, mines, and urban brownfields.The U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Lab in Rhinelander has become a leader in a specific phytoremediation method. It’s been working to share that method with Forest Service partners around the world.

The Lac Vieux Desert Tribe will begin growing medicinal and culturally significant plants at the J. W. Toumey Nursery in the Ottawa National Forest.It’s a first-of-its-kind partnership in the U.S.

The Ojibwe have long looked to Lake Lac Vieux Desert for its food sources.But there’s been major declines in wild rice and walleye in recent years that impact the Lac Vieux Desert Tribe’s food sovereignty.The tribe is now working with the Chequamegon Nicolet National Forest on a project to help improve the two species populations.

Dozens of wildfires burning hundreds of thousands of acres are currently burning out west in both the U.S. and Canada.The last few summers brought smoke from fires just like them to the Northwoods, dropping air quality to some of the worst levels seen in the region in years.