Wetland Coffee Break

As ecosystem engineers, North American beaver (Castor canadensis; Amik in Ojibwemowin) build wetland habitats which fulfill their own needs for food and safety, while also contributing to wetland biodiversity for countless other species. Historically, beaver and other cultural keystone species such as wild rice (Zizania palustris, z. aquatica; manoomin in Ojibwemowin) coexisted with the Anishnaabeg and other Indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes region. Contemporary land management regimes intended to benefit wild rice and other species, however, have evolved such that beaver are routinely removed from wild rice waters. In partnership with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, the Fairfax Beaver Lab at the University of Minnesota / St. Anthony Falls Laboratory is researching the hydrological impact of beavers on wild rice waters to better understand how these species impact one another and inform the direction of natural resource management related to beavers and wild rice.

Mickki Garrity (Nishabe/Potawatomi) is a graduate researcher at the University of Minnesota. She graduated from Northwest Indian College in 2023 with a degree in Native Environmental Science prior to relocating to the Great Lakes region. In addition to her graduate studies, Mickki is also passionate about growing, foraging, and sharing local food, and enjoys exploring the trails and lakes of the North Woods with her partner and four year old daughter.

Since time immemorial, the Sokaogon Chippewa Community (SCC) has recognized the interconnections between lands, waters, and living beings, and they understand that what happens upstream affects everything downstream. This concept was physically embodied when they established a “traditional cultural district” in 2002. The district encompasses the headwaters of Swamp Creek and Rice Lake, a critical area for rice and other food and medicines. In 1995, the SCC also became the first tribe east of the Mississippi River to obtain Treatment as a State and develop water quality standards (as states do). While both the traditional cultural district and the water quality standards were codified to help the Tribe protect resources crucial to their cultural and traditional practices, they proved invaluable in the Tribe’s fight against the Crandon Mine. See the premiere of a new short video about this story and hear from Sokaogon Chippewa Community, Environmental Director, Tina L. Van Zile on this special edition of the Wetland Coffee Break.

Tina L. Van Zile is a tribal member of the Sokaogon, Mole Lake Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa Indians and is the Director of their Environmental Department. She is also the President of the Wisconsin Tribal Conservation Advisory Council (WTCAC).

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) is the leading large-scale restoration program targeting the ecological health of the Laurentian Great Lakes; since 2010, 530,000 acres of coastal wetland and nearshore habitats, as well as other habitats, have been protected and restored. The impact of coastal wetland restoration on bird assemblages has not yet been widely assessed in the context of the GLRI. Using indexed breeding season survey data from the GLRI-funded Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program (2011-2025), we evaluate changes in avian assemblages at over 20 restoration sites spread throughout all five Great Lakes. Graduate student Isabel Dunn will share the results of this analysis, which explicitly tests hypotheses linking changes in bird taxonomic and functional diversity to coastal wetland habitat restoration activities in the context of factors such as change in wetland vegetation quality and extent of emergent vegetation.

Isabel Dunn is a current master’s degree student in the Water Resources Science program at University of Minnesota Duluth. Prior to graduate school, she was an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education research participant at the Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes National Program Office. She graduated in 2021 from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with a bachelor of science degree in water resources.