Team collaborates in an attempt to bring wild rice back to Spur Lake in Oneida County

Spur Lake in Oneida County was once home to lush beds of wild rice that fluctuated in production as wild rice tends to do. By 2010, however, it was found to be too deep to provide the right environment for that plant, which has a long, culturally important history with the Ojibwe in the area. In fact, as Nathan Podany of the Sokaogon Chippewa Environmental Department said, there is a historical marker telling of a hard-fought battle between Ojibwe and Sioux warriors over that rice lake. (Contributed photograph)