AES partnered with the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa to identify and restore wild rice communities and potential new habitat in a 600 square-mile area of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Funded with a GLRI grant through the Michigan Stewardship Network, our goal was to increase the number and acreage of wild rice stands on the tribe’s traditional lands to enhance watershed quality, wildlife habitat, ecosystem health and the tribal community values.
AES collected aerial photos and sensor data to identify existing rice beds and locate suitable shallow-water wild rice habitat for restoration. Ecologists and geospatial staff also joined with tribal members in the active restoration of wild rice stands, via traditional harvesting and planting.
In fall, 2010, AES Flight Services collected high-resolution, multi-spectral aerial imagery and data, along with oblique-angle digital photos that, combined with ground-truthing and software “training”, enabled us to analyze the spectral signatures of the vegetation.
Informed with data and images, AES geospatial and ecological staff identified and mapped specific restoration sites and made recommendations for restoration that contribute to tribal, national, regional and local goals in the Great Lakes Basin.
- Aerial Imagery – Multispectral + Oblique
- Vegetation Imagery + Data Analysis
- Photo Interpretation
- Restoration Planning
- Field Investigations
- Traditional Tribal Ricing, Harvesting + Seeding
Wild Rice Restoration | Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa